1. US September CPI Tops Estimates, YoY Rate Hits 3.7%, Highest Since May link
US September unadjusted CPI YoY came in at 3.7%, the highest since May this year and above market expectations of 3.6%. US September unadjusted CPI MoM stood at 0.6%, the highest since April this year. US September unadjusted core CPI YoY rose to 2.6%, the highest since June this year and above market forecasts of 2.5%. US September seasonally adjusted core CPI MoM printed at 0.3%, exceeding market expectations of 0.2%.
2. Democratic Midterm Win May Spur Probes Into Crypto Firms’ Trump Links link
Reuters reported that if Democrats gain control of either the U.S. House of Representatives or the Senate in the November midterm elections, they may ramp up investigations into crypto firms, prediction markets and Wall Street banks, and obtain the power to subpoena regulators and corporate CEOs to testify at congressional hearings. Democratic lawmakers are prepared to probe the business ties between Trump and his family with the cryptocurrency and prediction market industries, focusing on potential conflicts of interest and national security risks. The report notes that such investigations may not block the Trump administration’s financial regulatory rollbacks, yet they could slow policy advancement and raise legal and reputational risks for enterprises.
3. France Pushes EU-Wide Crypto Tax to Fill €2 Trillion Budget Gap link
Leaders of the 27 EU member states launched negotiations on the long-term budget for 2028–2034 on October 15, with sharp disagreements among countries over the budget size and new tax revenue sources. France opposes deep budget cuts and calls for new EU-wide taxes covering digital services, crypto assets and online gambling to boost common fiscal revenue. The European Parliament previously proposed exploring taxes on capital gains from crypto assets as a potential new revenue stream for the EU budget. EU leaders aim to strike a deal by the end of the year, and any new taxes require unanimous approval from all member states.
4. UK High Court: Chinese Law Applies to 61,000 BTC Claim; Victims May Miss Value Gains link
The High Court of England and Wales handed down a ruling on October 12 in a cross-border asset recovery dispute involving more than 61,000 Bitcoins linked to the Tianjin Lantian Gerui illegal fund-raising case. It held that Chinese investors’ property claims over the involved Bitcoins should be determined under Chinese law rather than English law. This means around 16,000 Chinese victims participating in the UK recovery proceedings may not be entitled to the appreciation gains from the rise in Bitcoin price, and the scope of recovery may be limited to principal and interest.
5. BoE Deputy Governor: No Rush for CBDC, Backs Domestic Stablecoins Over USD Variants link
Sarah Breeden, Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, stated that given rapid innovation in digital payments, the United Kingdom does not need to rush to launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for the general public. Commercial stablecoins and bank tokenized deposits may deliver some of the same functions as a digital pound. Breeden stressed that the Bank of England wants domestic firms to develop successful sterling stablecoins to offer an alternative to a market dominated by US dollar stablecoins, preventing UK households and businesses from relying solely on US dollar stablecoins for innovative payment services. The Bank of England is also upgrading its real-time gross settlement system to support tokenized financial transactions and round-the-clock instant settlement.
6. Australian Crypto Exchanges to Be Licensed Under New Rules Effective Next April link
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) announced on October 15 that Australia will implement a new digital asset regulatory framework on April 8, 2027, bringing digital asset trading platforms and tokenised custody platforms under financial services licensing oversight. Relevant platforms must apply for or vary an Australian Financial Services (AFS) licence and comply with regulatory requirements including client disclosure, asset custody, trade settlement and net tangible assets. ASIC has released Consultation Paper 392 seeking feedback on detailed implementation standards, with submissions closing on November 27. ASIC stated it has received over 140 licence applications for digital asset financial services, of which more than 110 were lodged during the regulatory transition period from October 2025 to September 2026.
7. Brazil Securities Regulator Launches Tokenized Securities Pilot for Blockchain Stock Trading link
Brazil’s securities regulator CVM issued Resolution №249 to launch a tokenized securities pilot programme. It intends to test securities transactions on blockchain using simulated stocks and funds within a controlled environment, with no real assets involved. The pilot will assess the suitability of public and private blockchains for securities issuance and operations, alongside risks related to smart contracts, cybersecurity, interoperability and network resilience. It will also explore translating market rules into smart contract logic. Brazilian stock exchange B3 plans to launch its tokenized platform in 2027, paired with its own stablecoin.
8. Ledger Confirms Supply Chain Hardware Tampering Attack on SEA Distributor CryptoBilis link
Ledger Donjon, the security team of hardware wallet manufacturer Ledger, published an article formally confirming a supply-chain hardware tampering attack targeting devices sold by Southeast Asian distributor CryptoBilis. Ledger emphasized that all confirmed theft cases to date only involve units sold by CryptoBilis, with no abnormalities found in other sales channels. Widely circulated figures of heavy losses online are third-party estimates and have not been fully verified by the official team. The firm warned users who purchased devices from CryptoBilis but have not initialized them not to power them up for setup, while those who have completed setup should immediately transfer assets to a wallet with a brand-new seed phrase.
According to Cointelegraph, major European consumer electronics retail group MediaMarktSaturn has removed all Ledger hardware wallet products from its physical stores and online platforms. A spokesperson for the group confirmed the measure and stated that it is in communication with Ledger. Earlier, X user Johannes claimed unauthorized installed cables and cellular communication modules were found in two Ledger wallets he bought from separate MediaMarkt stores.
In Ledger’s official response, as of October 13, European electronics retail group MediaMarktSaturn has suspended sales of Ledger devices across its stores and online platforms with Ledger’s cooperation. The suspension follows a report by a German consumer discovering suspected malicious implants in a device, and the relevant investigation is still ongoing with no reported fund losses so far. Ledger stressed there is no sign of compromise to its infrastructure, systems or services. Its security team Ledger Donjon will inspect the received devices. Ledger also reminded that many related allegations and loss figures circulating online remain unconfirmed and official investigation findings should be treated as authoritative.
Ledger announced “Atom”, an Android-based hardware device scheduled for official release in mid-2027. The device can run ordinary smartphone applications while delivering hardware-level security protection for crypto assets. It comes with a tamper-proof enclosure specifically designed to defend against and block physical hardware tampering attacks such as screen-reading implants exploited in previous breach incidents.
9. BitMine Adds 12,532 ETH, Holding Hits 6.0289M ETH, 99% Toward 5% Target link
BitMine stated that it added 12,532 ETH over the past week, bringing its total holdings to 6,028,946 ETH, accounting for approximately 4.9% of Ethereum’s 122.1 million supply. Around 99% of its target of holding 5% of ETH supply has been achieved. As of October 11, 5,067,309 ETH held by the company was staked. The announcement also noted in forward-looking statements that management believes the company has “substantially completed ETH purchases”, meaning the pace of future accumulation may slow as it nears the 5% target.
10. Solana Alpenglow Upgrade Slated for Oct 21 Mainnet Activation, Targeting 150ms Finality link
Anza, the core development team of Solana, announced that the Alpenglow consensus upgrade is scheduled to activate on the mainnet at approximately 14:50 UTC (22:50 Beijing time) on October 21. This upgrade will replace the existing TowerBFT with the Votor consensus mechanism, aiming to cut transaction finality time from around 12.8 seconds to 150 milliseconds. After the upgrade, validators will exchange voting information directly instead of recording votes as on-chain transactions, which may lead to a notable drop in transaction count statistics including validator votes. Alpenglow was previously deployed on the testnet and devnet on September 24 and 25 respectively. This mainnet upgrade remains a plan, and the 150-millisecond figure is an expected performance target rather than actual mainnet operational results.
Fundraising
Polychain led a new round of financing for Network School, valuing it at $2 billion. link
Fission closed a $10 million Series A financing round led by Pantera. link
Binance US plans to raise up to $100 million, targeting a valuation of approximately $1 billion. link
Uniform Labs, developer of Multiliquid, secured $8 million in financing led by Polychain. link
Learn more, check out crypto-fundraising.info.
Follow us
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WuBlockchain
Telegram: https://t.me/wublockchainenglish