📰 Web3 Morning News Brief | 10.17
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🟥 Regulation & Macro
▪️ Crypto political action committees have spent over $52 million in Ohio Senate races, led by Fairshake-affiliated groups primarily funded by Coinbase and Ripple. Media advertising alone accounted for $46.6 million, as crypto lobbying increasingly influences the midterm elections.
▪️ Circle announced plans to expand into around 40 emerging markets, focusing on Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. Chainalysis data released at the same time showed that North America's on-chain economy has reached $3.02 trillion, with AI agent payments and stablecoins serving as two major growth engines.
🟩 Projects & Ecosystem
▪️ Mysten Labs has officially established an independent AI business unit focused on “agent trust” products and AI-native infrastructure. Kevin Boon has taken over as CEO, while founder Evan Cheng will remain CTO and oversee the AI division—a clear sign of the company’s strong strategic investment in the area.
▪️ NEAR Intents published a postmortem on the October 1 incident: a vulnerability involving interactions with third parties was exploited to create around $3.8 million in fictitious balances. The team recovered all funds within 36 hours and has added balance monitoring and an automatic pause mechanism.
🟦 Capital & Markets
▪️ All three major U.S. stock indexes closed lower, and crypto-related stocks fell across the board—Riot Platforms dropped 11.22%, MARA fell 9.61%, and Strategy declined 9.45%. New MSCI rules take effect on November 30 and could exclude “non-operating companies”; concerns over miners’ shift to AI added to selling pressure.
▪️ TD Cowen raised its price target for Bitcoin treasury company Strive from $44 to $56 after the company added nearly 7,600 BTC net over two weeks, far exceeding the firm’s original Q4 expectations. Mining difficulty also rose 5.92% to 140.58T, as competition for network hashrate continues to intensify.
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💡 Opportunities & Insights
1️⃣ Bitcoin treasury stocks continue to diverge: Treasury companies adding Bitcoin above expectations are still receiving rating upgrades from institutions, while miners betting solely on an AI pivot face questions about profitability and the risk of index exclusion. Going forward, focus on companies with a genuine ability to keep buying Bitcoin and clearer debt structures, while avoiding stocks with compelling narratives but unstable cash flows.
2️⃣ The convergence of AI and crypto is entering the delivery stage: Mysten Labs has set up a dedicated AI division, and Chainalysis has observed a surge in AI agent payments. But miners’ pivots are being undermined by funding gaps, showing that while the narrative has merit, projects that can actually deliver AI-native products stand to benefit. #AI x Crypto remains worth watching over the long term.
3️⃣ Stablecoin expansion overseas is becoming a tangible growth driver: Circle is expanding into 40 emerging markets, and data shows that stablecoin cross-border remittances are 84% cheaper than traditional channels and settle faster. Cross-border payments and on-chain liquidity still have room to grow. #Stablecoins
Opinions are for reference only and do not constitute investment advice. Please assess market volatility rationally.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🟥 Regulation & Macro
▪️ Crypto political action committees have spent over $52 million in Ohio Senate races, led by Fairshake-affiliated groups primarily funded by Coinbase and Ripple. Media advertising alone accounted for $46.6 million, as crypto lobbying increasingly influences the midterm elections.
▪️ Circle announced plans to expand into around 40 emerging markets, focusing on Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. Chainalysis data released at the same time showed that North America's on-chain economy has reached $3.02 trillion, with AI agent payments and stablecoins serving as two major growth engines.
🟩 Projects & Ecosystem
▪️ Mysten Labs has officially established an independent AI business unit focused on “agent trust” products and AI-native infrastructure. Kevin Boon has taken over as CEO, while founder Evan Cheng will remain CTO and oversee the AI division—a clear sign of the company’s strong strategic investment in the area.
▪️ NEAR Intents published a postmortem on the October 1 incident: a vulnerability involving interactions with third parties was exploited to create around $3.8 million in fictitious balances. The team recovered all funds within 36 hours and has added balance monitoring and an automatic pause mechanism.
🟦 Capital & Markets
▪️ All three major U.S. stock indexes closed lower, and crypto-related stocks fell across the board—Riot Platforms dropped 11.22%, MARA fell 9.61%, and Strategy declined 9.45%. New MSCI rules take effect on November 30 and could exclude “non-operating companies”; concerns over miners’ shift to AI added to selling pressure.
▪️ TD Cowen raised its price target for Bitcoin treasury company Strive from $44 to $56 after the company added nearly 7,600 BTC net over two weeks, far exceeding the firm’s original Q4 expectations. Mining difficulty also rose 5.92% to 140.58T, as competition for network hashrate continues to intensify.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
💡 Opportunities & Insights
1️⃣ Bitcoin treasury stocks continue to diverge: Treasury companies adding Bitcoin above expectations are still receiving rating upgrades from institutions, while miners betting solely on an AI pivot face questions about profitability and the risk of index exclusion. Going forward, focus on companies with a genuine ability to keep buying Bitcoin and clearer debt structures, while avoiding stocks with compelling narratives but unstable cash flows.
2️⃣ The convergence of AI and crypto is entering the delivery stage: Mysten Labs has set up a dedicated AI division, and Chainalysis has observed a surge in AI agent payments. But miners’ pivots are being undermined by funding gaps, showing that while the narrative has merit, projects that can actually deliver AI-native products stand to benefit. #AI x Crypto remains worth watching over the long term.
3️⃣ Stablecoin expansion overseas is becoming a tangible growth driver: Circle is expanding into 40 emerging markets, and data shows that stablecoin cross-border remittances are 84% cheaper than traditional channels and settle faster. Cross-border payments and on-chain liquidity still have room to grow. #Stablecoins
Opinions are for reference only and do not constitute investment advice. Please assess market volatility rationally.