TheNewsCrypto

KB Kookmin Card, SBI Holdings, Everspin and SBI Everspin signed an MOU to test AI-agent identity and permission checks.
The partners will explore integrating the technology with KB Pay and allowing Japanese tourists to pay South Korean merchants using stablecoins.
South Korea’s KB Kookmin Card has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Japan’s SBI Holdings and two cybersecurity companies to test identity checks for artificial intelligence (AI) agents and explore cross-border crypto and stablecoin payments between the two countries.
Announced on October 13, the four-party agreement also involves South Korea-based Everspin and SBI Everspin, a joint venture between SBI Holdings and Everspin. The companies plan to examine how AI agents can securely access financial services and carry out transactions on behalf of users.
The work will use KYA (Know Your Agent) Trust Gateway, a platform designed to verify an AI agent’s identity and the permissions granted to it by a user. The aim is to check not only who or what is making a request, but also whether the agent has permission to access a service or complete a particular transaction.
Tests to Cover KB Pay and Stablecoin Payments
The initial testing phase will focus on verifying the identity of AI agents operating from Japan when they access services in South Korea. The companies then plan to test how the system checks delegated permissions and manages access to individual services.
KB Kookmin Card will also explore linking the technology with KB Pay, its payment platform. The test will examine how to confirm a user’s approval and ensure an AI agent stays within its authorised transaction limits when making payments.
Cross-border crypto payments are another part of the agreement. The partners will study whether Japanese tourists could use stablecoins and other digital assets to pay at participating merchants in South Korea.
The tests will cover payment and settlement procedures, cancellations, refunds and responses to fraudulent transactions. However, the companies have not named a supported stablecoin, selected a blockchain or announced a commercial launch date.
Everspin said it has recorded approximately 25 billion cumulative cybersecurity threat detections across more than 150 financial institutions in South Korea and overseas. The figure was reported by the company and relates to its broader security operations, not the new AI-agent platform.
The four companies plan to assess commercial potential based on the test results and consider expanding cooperation into other financial and non-financial services. No budget or completion date for the testing programme has been disclosed.

The NFT marketplace will shut down blur.io on November 12, ending access to its main interface, while the underlying protocol remains operational on-chain.
The BLUR token will continue to control the fee switch, which determines whether the protocol charges fees and how the resulting revenue is directed.
NFT marketplace Blur has announced it will shut down the blur.io frontend on November 12, 2026. The closure affects the main interface that professional NFT traders have used for bidding, listing, portfolio management, and liquidity. Significantly, the underlying marketplace protocol will remain operational on-chain.
The BLUR token will continue to control its fee switch, the governance mechanism that determines whether the protocol charges fees and where that revenue goes. In addition, the announcement sent the BLUR token price down over 29% immediately after it was made.
What Blend Borrowers Need to Do Right Now?
The more urgent situation is for users of Blend, Blur’s NFT lending protocol. Blend will stop matching new loans on November 12, the same date the frontend closes. Existing borrowers have a clear deadline: repay your loans before November 12 or allow them to default.
Moreover, loans that are not repaid by the deadline are at risk of liquidation. After November 12, Blur will provide a dedicated frontend tool, but that tool will only support asset withdrawals, not loan management or new activity.
There is no window after the deadline to settle loans through the platform. Blur’s team has warned users to be cautious of impersonators and fraudulent announcements circulating around this news.
What Traders Lose and What Remains?
For the professional NFT traders that Blur built its platform around. blur.io was designed for high-volume activity, collection-wide bids, and portfolio-level tools. The trading rewards that attracted serious market participants competing for NFT liquidity across Ethereum collections.
That access point is gone after November 12. Trading on the Blur protocol will still be technically possible by interacting directly with the contracts or through third-party interfaces. Also, the official, purpose-built interface that made Blur the go-to platform for professional NFT trading will no longer exist.
Blur has not announced a replacement website or indicated whether a new trading interface is planned. The original announcement thread remains the only official communication from the team on the matter.
For NFT holders with assets or approvals tied to Blur, review your contract approvals and plan around the frontend closure. For BLUR holders, the fee switch remains the primary economic mechanism tied to the token going forward, with the on-chain protocol continuing to operate independently of the website.
Crypto Market Highlights
Singapore Gulf Bank Taps BNY to Expand 24/7 USD Payment Options

Moscow, Russia, October 12th, 2026, Chainwire
On 13 October, the Russian international settlement system A7, created by Bank PSB, is set to present A7 International, a service enabling payments for a foreign counterparty’s invoice in USDT, with the funds arriving via a standard SWIFT bank transfer in the required currency.
The service will cater primarily to foreign trade operators, but individuals are also eligible customers. The fee remains fixed at 0.3 percent.
Petr Fradkov, Chairman of PJSC Bank PSB, and Ilan Shor, CEO of A7, will provide a glimpse into its new offering on 13 October at 13:13.
To join the live broadcast and learn about the new project, follow the links:
https://a7.biz/live
About A7:
A7 is a global financial technology company specializing in international payments and settlement solutions for international trade. It was established in 2024 with the involvement of PSB Bank.
A7 is developing an independent global payment infrastructure across more than 100 countries, combining global financial expertise, advanced technology and regulatory compliance. The company’s products include international payments, digital financial assets and promissory notes.
A7 Group works with 15,000 clients, with around 2,000 transactions processed through the system every day. In 2025, approximately 19% of Russian companies’ cross-border trade settlements were processed through A7. In October 2025, A7 received an AA(RU) credit rating with a Stable outlook from ACRA.
Contact
CMOAlex FedorovA7info@a7.biz

Singapore Gulf Bank has partnered with BNY to offer round-the-clock settlement for qualifying USD payments.
SGB is among the first financial institutions globally to adopt BNY’s 24/7 USD Book Transfers solution.
Singapore Gulf Bank has expanded its USD payment capabilities through a partnership with BNY. It gives both corporate and retail clients the ability to settle qualifying USD payments at any time, including weekends and U.S. public holidays. The service runs through BNY’s 24/7 USD Book Transfers solution, and SGB is among the first financial institutions globally to adopt it.
In addition, the expansion builds on a relationship that began in April 2026, when SGB joined BNY’s correspondent banking network to strengthen its U.S. dollar clearing capabilities.
What Changes for the Clients?
Until now, cross-border USD payments were constrained by standard U.S. banking hours and settlement windows that don’t account for how global businesses actually operate. A treasury team in the Gulf managing a time-sensitive payment on a Saturday, or a corporate client in Asia needing to fund an account outside New York hours, would have had to wait.
USD transfers can settle at any time between eligible accounts held directly with BNY or with correspondent banks enrolled in the service. The use cases are broad: account funding, payables management, and time-sensitive cross-border treasury transactions across SGB’s client base spanning the Gulf, Asia, and beyond.
Ali Moosa, Executive Vice Chairman of Singapore Gulf Bank, stated:
“Our clients operate across markets and time zones, and their business needs do not always fall within traditional US banking hours. Working with BNY strengthens our payment network and reinforces SGB’s commitment to providing real-time cross-border banking solutions.”
Bana Akkad Azhari, EMEA Head of Global Payments and Trade at BNY, framed it from the institutional side: round-the-clock USD settlement gives banks and their clients greater agility in managing liquidity and meeting urgent financial commitments.
Moreover, BNY, which oversees $62.6 trillion in assets under custody and administration and $2.2 trillion in assets under management as of June 30, 2026, is bringing that infrastructure to SGB’s network.
Besides, Singapore Gulf Bank launched its corporate banking service in late 2024 and introduced SGB Net in May 2025 for real-time, multi-currency settlement. Also, the BNY 24/7 USD capability is the next layer in a deliberate build-out of always-on banking infrastructure.
Furthermore, for a bank positioning itself at the intersection of Gulf finance and global payment rails, removing the time-zone constraint on USD settlement is not a minor feature addition.
Crypto Market Highlights
Pando Finance Adds Solana to Hong Kong’s Growing Spot Crypto ETF Market

Standard Chartered’s RLUSD custody service on XRPL is live for eligible institutional clients through its DFSA-regulated DIFC branch.
Standard Chartered, Ripple and LMAX Group are planning to use RLUSD as eligible collateral for certain trading products.
The collateral integration is not yet live and remains subject to testing, documentation and regulatory requirements.
Standard Chartered has launched institutional custody for Ripple USD (RLUSD) on the XRP Ledger (XRPL), giving eligible clients access to the stablecoin through the bank’s digital asset custody services.
The bank announced the launch on October 12, 2026. The service is available through Standard Chartered’s Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) branch, which is regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA).
The move gives institutional clients a way to hold RLUSD through a bank’s custody infrastructure rather than manage the assets themselves. RLUSD is Ripple’s US dollar-backed stablecoin, designed for use across payments, trading and other financial services.
Standard Chartered is also working with Ripple and LMAX Group on a separate plan to make RLUSD eligible as collateral for certain LMAX products. That arrangement is not yet live.
Ripple and LMAX Plan RLUSD Collateral Integration
Under the proposed setup, eligible RLUSD held in custody would be reflected in the collateral value recognised by LMAX Group, without requiring the underlying tokens to be transferred directly to the trading venue.
The companies say this model could give institutional clients more flexibility in using digital assets for trading while reducing risks linked to asset transfers and helping manage counterparty exposure. It is also intended to improve how clients deploy capital across trading and collateral accounts.
The planned integration remains subject to final documentation, successful testing, applicable laws and regulations, internal approvals and readiness in the relevant jurisdictions. The companies have not announced a launch date.
Standard Chartered’s Waqar Chaudry, global head of digital assets for securities and transaction services, said institutions want access to digital asset markets while maintaining established custody and risk-management standards.
Ripple’s stablecoin chief, Jack McDonald, said the partnership combines RLUSD on XRPL with Standard Chartered’s custody services and LMAX’s institutional trading infrastructure.
The announcement follows Standard Chartered’s broader expansion of digital asset custody services. In September, the bank named LMAX Group as a custody client across its Dubai and Luxembourg operations.
The latest development adds RLUSD to that institutional offering, while the planned collateral arrangement could extend the stablecoin’s use beyond holding and settlement into trading workflows.

Pando Solana ETF debuts on October 13, trading under ticker 02831, and opens for subscriptions from October 6 to October 12.
The Solana fund marks the firm’s third spot virtual asset ETF, following its Bitcoin and Ethereum products.
Hong Kong’s spot Solana ETF market is about to get more competitive. Pando Finance is set to list its Pando Solana ETF, ticker 02831, on HKEX on October 13, with subscriptions open from October 6 through October 12. Entry is set at HK$800 per unit, with each trading unit comprising 100 shares priced between HK$7.8 and HK$8, denominated in US dollars but traded in Hong Kong dollars.
This is Pando’s third spot virtual asset ETF. In addition, the firm previously launched Bitcoin and Ethereum products, so Solana completes what is now a full spot crypto ETF lineup from a single issuer.
How It Works?
The fund is passive and physically backed; it buys and holds SOL directly through HashKey Exchange, with assets custodied by HashKey Custody Services, both licensed by Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission. The ETF tracks the CME Group CF Solana Dollar Index for the Asia-Pacific region.
No leverage, no derivatives, and no staking of Solana holdings. Up to 3% of net asset value is held in cash to cover expenses and redemptions. Annual management fee sits at 0.6%, with a total expense ratio of 1.6% annually. Moreover, no dividends are planned.
The Competitive Landscape
ChinaAMC already operates a spot Solana ETF on HKEX, ticker 03460, with an annual management fee of 0.99% and a total expense ratio of 1.99%. Pando’s 1.6% expense ratio gives it a cost advantage that could attract fee-sensitive investors comparing the two products.
Globally, spot Solana ETFs now hold approximately $1.9 billion in net assets with around $1.61 billion in cumulative net inflows, numbers that reflect genuine institutional appetite for regulated SOL exposure rather than speculative interest.
Price Impact on Solana
This doesn’t move SOL’s price on announcement alone, but the structural effect matters over time. As inflows build, that buying pressure becomes consistent.
The ChinaAMC fund’s reception in Hong Kong showed retail and institutional demand for regulated Solana exposure. Pando’s lower fee structure could pull additional capital into the space, capital that has to flow through actual SOL purchases.
On the other hand, Solana (SOL) is currently trading at $111.73 after a 2.2% gain in value. The volume is settled at $2.475 billion, with its 24-hour range falling between $109.17 and $113.22. Furthermore, the seven-day trading range
Is found between $105.85 and $121.91.
Crypto Market Highlights
Jeonbuk Bank Launches South Korea’s First Bitcoin-Backed Won Loan

Kraken is preparing to launch in the UAE in the coming weeks after Payward secured Full Market Approval from Dubai’s VARA.
Initial services include AED spot and margin trading, direct dirham deposits and withdrawals, staking, xStocks and institutional trading.
Derivatives and additional yield products are planned for later, subject to regulatory approval.
Kraken is preparing to launch in the United Arab Emirates after its parent company, Payward, received Full Market Approval from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). VARA’s public register shows that Payward’s licence was issued on October 6, 2026, authorizing it to serve institutional, qualified and retail investors. Payward publicly announced the approval on October 12.
The approval clears the final regulatory stage before the crypto exchange begins serving local customers, with a launch targeted for the coming weeks.
(Source: VARA)
At launch, customers will be able to trade cryptocurrencies on spot and margin markets using UAE dirham (AED)-denominated pairs. They will also be able to deposit and withdraw dirhams directly. That gives local users access to the exchange without first converting funds into another currency.
The planned services include on-chain staking, xStocks and Krak for crypto transfers. Institutional customers will also have access to over-the-counter (OTC) spot trading and Kraken Prime, which provides services for professional trading clients.
Derivatives and Additional Yield Products Planned Later
Payward received preliminary approval from VARA in May 2026, allowing it to prepare its local operations before customer onboarding. The latest approval permits the company to begin regulated activities covered by its authorization in Dubai.
However, the UAE launch will not include every product Payward plans to offer. Crypto derivatives and additional yield opportunities are expected later in 2026 and into 2027, subject to further regulatory approval. The company has not announced specific launch dates for these products.
Payward also plans to make its trading infrastructure available to regional businesses through an embedded trading service. This could allow partners to incorporate trading features into their own platforms. Although the company has not named partners or provided a rollout timetable.
Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Payward and Kraken, said UAE customers would have access to the same order book and multi-asset coverage available across the company’s other markets.
Payward said it holds more than 100 licenses and registrations worldwide, spanning Europe, the Americas, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. The UAE launch adds another regulated market to its operations, while the availability of future products will depend on the necessary approvals.

Sui Foundation is investing $30 million in DATA Network and will become its largest institutional holder.
DATA Network plans to retire its independent blockchain and migrate DATA tokens at a 1:1 ratio.
Trace has registered over 250 million contributions, while Walrus will serve as the default storage layer for DATA Foundation applications.
The Sui Foundation is investing $30 million in DATA Network as the AI data protocol prepares to move to the Sui blockchain and retire its independent network. The investment will make Sui Foundation DATA Network’s largest institutional holder, according to an announcement on October 12, 2026.
The partnership also brings DATA Network’s Trace registry into Sui’s ecosystem, with Walrus set to become the default storage layer for applications operated by DATA Foundation. The move aims to connect AI developers with data whose origins and usage rights can be checked before it is used to train models.
DATA Network focuses on tracking real-world data contributions and the rights attached to them. Its Trace registry, launched in June 2026, records where data comes from and supports payments to contributors. DATA Foundation said Trace has registered more than 250 million contributions and processes over three million receipts per day on average.
DATA Token to Migrate at a 1:1 Ratio
Under the plan, DATA Network will run as a protocol on Sui, while its standalone blockchain will be retired after the transition. Existing DATA tokens are expected to migrate to Sui on a one-to-one basis. The announced terms also say holders’ economic and governance rights will remain at least equivalent to their current rights, while existing lockups and vesting schedules will carry over.
The migration has not yet been completed. DATA Network will continue operating until the upgrade is finished, and the foundations said they will publish a detailed timeline and token-holder transition plan beforehand.
Walrus will provide storage for the original data files, including encrypted copies with controlled access. Combined with Trace’s records, this is intended to let AI labs check a dataset against its registered source rather than rely only on information supplied when the record was created.
Sui Foundation’s investment is part of the wider strategic partnership. The announcement did not disclose a detailed breakdown of the investment or provide a date for the migration.
DATA Foundation, previously known as Story Foundation, shifted its focus toward AI training data in June. The integration brings its data registry and related applications into Sui’s infrastructure as demand grows for datasets with documented origins and permissions.

Jeonbuk Bank’s new loan program lets South Korean companies use Bitcoin as collateral to access won-denominated funding for business expenses.
The corporate-only product offers a way to unlock liquidity from Bitcoin holdings without selling BTC.
Jeonbuk Bank, an affiliate of JB Financial Group, has launched South Korea’s first won-denominated loan program backed by Bitcoin. The product is currently limited to corporate clients, with Bitcoin as the only accepted collateral. The loan proceeds are restricted to business operating funds, covering payroll, supplier payments, and day-to-day operations.
For Korean companies that have been sitting on Bitcoin holdings, this changes the calculation significantly. Until now, accessing liquidity from those holdings meant selling them. In addition, Jeonbuk Bank is offering a different path: borrow against the Bitcoin, keep the position, and use the loan proceeds to run the business.
How the Structure Actually Works?
Jeonbuk Bank does not hold or manage the Bitcoin directly. A qualified virtual asset service provider handles custody, complying with South Korea’s regulatory standards, including ISMS certification and the Virtual Asset User Protection Act. ISMS is South Korea’s government-backed information security management certification. This is essentially a minimum security bar that custodians must clear before handling client assets.
The bank’s role is narrower; it handles collateral valuation and lending, nothing else. Valuation is calculated using a weighted average price drawn from multiple global exchanges, with market volatility indicators factored in to reduce the impact of sharp price swings at any single exchange on how the collateral is assessed.
Moreover, Jeonbuk Bank does not take ownership of the Bitcoin. Instead, the collateral is liquidated through court auction procedures under revised civil execution rules. Also, it allows the bank to recover its claim without directly holding or selling the asset itself. That separation between lending activity and direct crypto management keeps the bank’s exposure clearly defined.
Why Bitcoin?
Bitcoin was chosen specifically because of its liquidity and trading volume relative to other digital assets. The bank completed stress tests and built a valuation system before launching, and the product has been positioned as comparable to Bitcoin-backed lending offered by global institutions including JPMorgan Chase.
South Korea’s regulatory environment has been evolving steadily, and Jeonbuk Bank appears to be moving in step with those changes rather than ahead of them, a careful entry into a product category that other jurisdictions have been developing for years.
The bank has indicated it may expand eligibility beyond corporate clients and potentially accept other digital assets, depending on demand and how the regulatory framework develops. For now, the product is narrow by design: one asset, one client type, one use case.
Crypto Market Highlights
DWF Labs Affiliates Sue BitGo for $141M Over Alleged Token Lock-Up Breach

Palo Alto, United States, October 12th, 2026, Chainwire

Trace, the onchain registry for rights-cleared AI training data with more than 250 million verifiable receipts, brings its training data to Sui and Walrus to power the next generation of AI models.
Sui Foundation and The DATA Foundation today announced that the DATA Network and its Trace registry are joining the Sui stack, bringing a live supply of rights-cleared AI training data onto the infrastructure Sui has built for AI workloads. Walrus, the data platform with integrity proofs anchored on Sui, becomes the default storage layer for applications operated by DATA Foundation. Separately, the DATA Network will be upgraded to run as a protocol natively on Sui.
The upgrade gives AI labs a single place to source real-world training data they are allowed to use, with its provenance recorded by Trace and the original file stored and access-controlled on Walrus.
The data AI needs next
The next generation of AI models is constrained by access to real-world data. The open internet has been scraped, and the data that comes next must be sourced from people, with consent and with provenance that regulators and legal teams will accept. The EU AI Act and ongoing litigation over training data have made provenance a procurement requirement for labs.
The data those models need sits with people rather than on the open web: a nurse describing a patient’s night in her own words, a dashcam recording of a rainy commute in Jakarta, a factory technician’s hands as they diagnose a fault, or a customer call conducted in Bengali. It is personal and often regulated, and it belongs to the people who generated it.
Trace, launched by DATA Foundation in June as an onchain registry for AI training data, was built for exactly this kind of data. It records the origin of each contribution and the rights attached to it, and settles payment to the person who contributed it. It has registered more than 250 million contributions since launch and now processes over 3M receipts per day on average. Applications writing to Trace include Kled, the largest opt-in human data marketplace with over 1.5 billion records being onboarded, along with Numo and Oto, applications that already license data to frontier AI labs and robotics companies.
Why Sui and Walrus
Sui represents every asset as a programmable object, allowing datasets and their licenses to be managed onchain like tokens. Independent transactions execute in parallel and settle in under a second, making the network capable of handling millions of daily registrations. Walrus extends this capability to large files: it stores massive AI datasets efficiently and ensures data is only readable by licensed buyers. No other network offers storage, access control, and ownership tracking built natively into a single ecosystem, together with verifiable compute.
Trace now adds a flagship supply of rights-cleared data, with existing demand from the AI labs that license it today. The result of the integration will be stronger provenance guarantees and tamper evidence. Today a Trace record proves that a file was registered and when, and with Walrus, Trace will be able to hold an encrypted, immutable copy of the contributed file itself as a reference guarantee. The hash of the record can be regenerated from the data itself rather than from metadata an application supplied, and any later processing of the file can be checked against the original.
The upgrade is backed by a long-term strategic investment. Sui Foundation is investing $30 million in the DATA Network, establishing the largest institutional stake in the network, alongside the continuing holdings of PIP Labs and the DATA Foundation. Furthering the alignment, SY Lee, Chairman of Poseidon and CEO of PIP Labs, joins Sui Foundation as Strategic Advisor.
The protocol upgrade
DATA Network will be upgraded to run as a protocol natively on Sui, and its independent chain will be retired. $DATA continues as the token of the DATA protocol on Sui, carried over one-to-one, with holder economics and governance rights at least equivalent to today. Locked and vesting positions carry over unchanged. In parallel, Walrus becomes the default storage layer for DATA Foundation applications.
Adeniyi Abiodun, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Mysten Labs, the original contributor to Sui and Walrus, said: “The AI industry has reached the point where the open internet has been read, and the next frontier is defined by access to datasets with the consent and provenance that regulators require. Sui and Walrus were built to be the home where AI data is stored, licensed, and paid for, capable of operating at the scale these systems demand. The migration of DATA Network and Trace to our stack now brings massive volumes of high-quality, rights-cleared data that is already serving the world’s frontier AI labs.”
SY Lee, Chairman of Poseidon and CEO of PIP Labs, said: “The next generation of AI will be trained on data that lives with people rather than on the open web, and that data needs consent and provenance built in, along with a way to pay the people it comes from, and Trace was built to be that layer. It now becomes part of the Sui stack alongside Walrus, backed by one of the strongest engineering organizations in the industry and with Sui Foundation as the network’s largest strategic holder. This is the right home for the network we built, and I am looking forward to helping Sui make it the data layer for AI.”
Andrea Muttoni, CEO of DATA Foundation, said: “Training data is critical for continuously expanding the frontier, and making sure it is traceable, auditable and cleared to use is just as important for AI safety as it is a precursor for data quality. With Trace, we have been tracking hundreds of millions of data assets. Joining forces with Sui now allows us to build out more of the stack, offering more than just an audit trail, like encrypted reference file storage and potentially fully verifiable TEEs for evals and fine tunings in the future.”
The existing DATA Network will continue to operate until the upgrade is complete, and a detailed timeline and holder transition plan will be published prior to the upgrade.
About DATA Foundation
DATA Foundation supports the DATA Network, the protocol for tracking provenance of the real-world data AI models need. Through Trace, each contribution is registered with its provenance receipt and a full audit trail. Applications building on the network include Kled, Numo, Oto, and others. Formerly Story Foundation, the organization refocused on AI training data in June 2026. The DATA Network is being upgraded to run as a protocol on Sui.
About Sui
Sui, where money moves as freely as messages, is a next-generation Layer 1 blockchain built for onchain finance and agentic infrastructure. Founded by the core team behind Meta’s stablecoin initiative and powered by an object-centric model, Sui makes assets, permissions, and user data programmable and verifiable. Sui’s primitives offer everything necessary to create high-performance finance and AI-native applications. Learn more at sui.io.
About Walrus
Walrus is the data platform built for the demands of AI. It lets builders, enterprises, and AI agents move data across apps and models, protect it with built-in access rules, and make it verifiable by anyone. As AI takes actions with consequence, the data it runs on has to be provable. Created by the cryptographers and distributed systems engineers behind Sui and Meta’s first stablecoin initiative. walrus.xyz
Media contacts
DATA Foundation: datafoundation@150bond.com
Sui Foundation: comms@sui.io

Contact
Head of CommunicationsHVDATA Foundationhenri.vues@piplabs.xyz

DWF Labs affiliates DWF Maas and Falcon Digital have filed a $141 million lawsuit against BitGo in London’s High Court.
The firms allege BitGo transferred locked-up FF and ESPORTS tokens to exchanges about two months before their scheduled unlock.
Two firms affiliated with market maker DWF Labs, DWF Maas and Falcon Digital, have filed a $141 million lawsuit against crypto custodian BitGo in London’s High Court. The claim centres on a straightforward but serious allegation: BitGo sold tokens it was supposed to be holding under agreed lock-up restrictions, before those restrictions expired.
The agreements in question were OTC token deals covering Falcon Finance (FF) and ESPORTS tokens. Under the terms, BitGo received discounted pricing in exchange for accepting a three-month lock-up followed by staged vesting releases. The plaintiffs allege BitGo transferred the tokens to exchanges approximately two months before the first scheduled unlock, in direct breach of what was agreed.
The Falcon Finance sales, according to the claim, flooded a thin market with limited liquidity and concentrated holdings. The sudden increase in circulating supply dragged down the token’s price. Also, reduced the value of DWF’s remaining holdings, which is precisely what lock-up periods are designed to prevent.
DWF said in the claim there was no contractual excuse for the transfers or sales. Also, the lock-ups, the plaintiffs argue, were specifically intended to give DWF time to launch products and build liquidity during the restricted period. That window was cut short.
The Broader Context Around BitGo
This lawsuit does not arrive in isolation. BitGo is also entangled in a separate dispute with Galaxy Digital over a terminated $1.2 billion acquisition deal, as well as a federal securities class action filed in June 2026. The accumulation of legal pressure raises questions about the company’s compliance frameworks and its handling of institutional custody arrangements.
BitGo has declined to comment on the DWF lawsuit. Moreover, the allegations have not been determined by a court, and BitGo will have the opportunity to file a defence. No hearing date or case number was published in the material reviewed.
What This Case Signals for the Industry?
OTC token agreements operate differently from standard exchange transactions. They involve privately negotiated discounts, settlement arrangements, and contractual restrictions on resale. All are designed to manage the market impact of large institutional allocations, particularly in low-liquidity environments.
In addition, when those restrictions are allegedly ignored, the damage is not just financial; it undermines the trust that institutional participants rely on when entering private token deals.
The DWF vs BitGo case is a reminder that enforceable vesting schedules and transfer restrictions are not just legal formalities. Furthermore, in thin markets with concentrated holdings, they are the entire foundation of price stability during a token’s early distribution phase.
Crypto Market Highlights
Binance Drops Eight Services in Brazil as New Crypto Rules Take Effect in October

Unchained Summit India will bring together leaders from financial markets, digital assets, law, technology and the Web3 ecosystem on 5–6 November 2026 at Courtyard by Marriott, Mumbai, with its third edition focused on the regulatory, financial and technological forces shaping India’s onchain economy.
The summit features more than 50 speakers from across the digital asset and financial ecosystem, including S B Seker, Head of APAC at Binance; Sumit Gupta, Founder of CoinDCX; Ashish Singhal, Co-Founder of CoinSwitch; Dilip Chenoy, Chairperson of Bharat Web3 Association; Kunaal Patel, Head of Institutional – Asia & MENA at Ondo Finance; Ashish Singhal, CEO of IBDIC; Rajagopal Menon, Vice President at WazirX; Praneeth Srikanti, Partner at Ethereal Ventures; and leaders from Base, Polygon Labs, NEAR and Alchemy.
Following editions in Dubai and Vietnam, the India edition will bring together founders, investors, financial market participants, wealth managers, family offices, policymakers, legal professionals, global blockchain companies, technology leaders and builders for two days of discussion and networking.
Participation from IBDIC and Finternet will bring financial infrastructure perspectives into discussions on tokenisation, banking and settlement. Together with perspectives from Ondo Finance and other digital asset companies, these discussions will examine how onchain infrastructure can integrate with the wider financial system.
The regulatory conversation will feature senior legal voices, including Rohan Bagai, Senior Partner at AZB & Partners, Anirud Sudarsan, Partner at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, and Jaideep Reddy, Partner at Trilegal. Discussions will examine India’s evolving digital asset framework, the need for greater legal clarity and how policy can support innovation while addressing risks for businesses and consumers. Bagai said:
“India’s regulatory framework was built for a world of banks, remitters, and clearly defined transactions in traditional currency. It was never designed with crypto or the Web3 ecosystem in mind. Today, when someone in India buys tokens or uses stablecoins to move value across borders, they can find themselves operating in areas where the regulatory position is not yet fully defined, creating uncertainty for both businesses and customers. The key question for India is therefore no longer whether crypto should be regulated. It already is. The real question is whether India can continue regulating an asset class that its laws have never fully defined.”
From tokenisation to institutional finance
Day One will focus on India’s digital asset markets, examining the future of crypto investing and trading, the macroeconomic trends shaping capital flows and investor sentiment, and the evolving regulatory landscape. Discussions will also cover tokenisation, stablecoins, payments and settlement, alongside the compliance, custody and liquidity requirements for institutional participation.
The programme will explore how digital asset investment products are evolving, what investors expect from Web3 businesses and what is needed for tokenised securities and real-world assets to achieve wider adoption. It will also consider the practical challenges of connecting onchain infrastructure with established banking and capital market systems.
The wider lineup includes Roshan Prabhakar, Head of Product – India at Coinbase; Sanat Rao, Chief Investment Officer at Monarq Asset Management; Amit Mehra, General Partner at Borderless Capital; and Prasanth Kalangi, Founder and CEO of Zoniqx, adding perspectives across digital asset products, investment and tokenisation.
From infrastructure to the builder economy
Day Two will focus on the infrastructure and applications supporting the next phase of Web3, bringing founders, builders, investors and technology leaders together to discuss scalability, interoperability, AI, decentralised physical infrastructure and digital trust.
Prabal Banerjee, Co-Founder of Avail, will contribute perspectives on blockchain infrastructure, including how data availability and interoperability can support scalable onchain systems. Participants from SingularityNET, Startale Group and NEAR Foundation will explore the intersection of AI and Web3, including the development of open networks and applications that give users greater control over their data and digital assets.
The programme will also examine how onchain products can reach consumers beyond established crypto communities, with discussions on usability, community building and the practical value of digital ownership.
Dharamveer Singh Chauhan, Co-Founder of Zostel and Zo World and Group CEO of Zo World, said:
“The future belongs to individuals who have greater ownership over their digital identity, assets, and data. Unchained is an important platform for advancing that conversation, and I’m excited to contribute my thoughts while engaging with pioneers driving the next chapter of decentralization.”
Dharamveer Singh Chauhan and Saumya Saxena, India Lead at Base, will discuss the role of communities and consumer applications in expanding onchain adoption.
Unchained Summit India is supported by companies spanning key areas of the digital asset ecosystem. CoinSwitch joins as the Gold Sponsor, with Liquid Loans, WazirX, NEAR and Avail as Silver Sponsors. EQ joins as the Bronze Sponsor, while Securosys is participating as an Exhibitor, Trilegal as the Legal Partner and Coin Edition as the Official Media Partner.
Sharath Kumar, Founder and CEO of Aeternum, organiser of Unchained Summit, said:
“India’s digital asset market raises questions that span investing, regulation, financial infrastructure and technology. We have built Unchained Summit India to bring those perspectives into the same room, from exchanges and investors discussing the future of crypto markets to institutions exploring tokenisation and developers building onchain applications. The aim is to give participants a clearer understanding of where the opportunities lie and connect them with the people who can help turn those opportunities into practical outcomes.”
Across the two days, the programme and networking opportunities are designed to connect investors with founders, financial market participants with infrastructure providers, and Indian builders with global protocols and technology companies. The aim is to support relationships that can lead to investment, commercial partnerships and product development.
Unchained Summit India will take place on 5–6 November 2026 at Courtyard by Marriott Mumbai International Airport. More information is available on the event’s official website: (https://unchainedsummit.com/india)
About Aeternum Consulting Ltd:
Aeternum organizes business-to-business events in the emerging tech space, provides strategic consulting, and tailored services to a diverse range of clients, from corporations to governments and startups to individuals. Aeternum specializes in crafting impactful B2B platforms that foster meaningful connections, drive business growth, and facilitate knowledge sharing through conferences, exhibitions, and bespoke networking opportunities.
For more information visit: (https://aeternuminc.com)
For further details about the announcement, please contact:
Maya K V
media@aeternuminc.com | +91 95383 91838
Partnerships Associate, Aeternum
Disclaimer: TheNewsCrypto does not endorse any content on this page. The content depicted in this Press Release does not represent any investment advice. TheNewsCrypto recommends our readers to make decisions based on their own research. TheNewsCrypto is not accountable for any damage or loss related to content, products, or services stated in this Press Release.

Binance’s eight services will become unavailable to Brazilian users from October 27, 2026, following new crypto regulations issued by the Central Bank of Brazil.
Existing margin positions can remain open, but users cannot open new positions or take additional loans.
Closing existing positions will incur no fees or penalties.
Binance has announced significant changes to how it operates in Brazil, driven by new crypto asset regulations issued by the Central Bank of Brazil. The changes take effect from October 27, 2026, with full user migration to a local Brazilian entity completing by October 29.
Binance is restructuring how it serves Brazilian users to stay within the regulatory framework the Central Bank has put in place. Eight services will no longer be available to Brazilian users from October 27. They are Binance Loans, Binance Pool, Cloud Mining, Margin Trading, Launchpool, Megadrop, HODLer Airdrops, and Alpha 2.0.
Existing margin positions can be maintained, but no new positions can be opened. No additional loans can be taken out from that date. Loan positions will move into reduction mode only, which can settle but not expand. Moreover, no fees or penalties apply for closing these positions.
The 22 Tokens Getting Delisted
Brazilian users will lose access to trading on the following tokens from October 27: XVG, USDE, USTC, DCR, DUSK, PIVX, BB, MANTRA, ONE, GMT, TFUEL, ZIL, ONT, RVN, ACX, HIT, PYR, VANRY, VIC, ICX, SCRT, and STORJ. Trading remains available until that date. After delisting, balances stay in your account and can be withdrawn or reinvested.
The Migration: What It Means Practically?
All Brazilian users will be migrated to a Binance Group company operating locally under Brazilian law. The migration is regulatory, and the funds are protected. Notably, the deposit addresses stay the same, the KYC carries over, and the way of using the app or website does not change.
In addition, transaction history remains accessible and exportable before and after migration. Users who live outside Brazil with valid proof of foreign residence will remain on the global platform.
On the other hand, Binance cannot offer derivatives or futures services to Brazilian residents under Law 6.385/1976. Users who independently opened international accounts for derivatives trading before the migration may continue managing those positions through that account. Those operations are considered foreign investments for Brazilian tax reporting purposes.
Tax Rules From October 29
Capital gains from virtual asset sales exceeding R$35,000 in a month are taxed at progressive rates between 15% and 22.5%. Sales under that threshold are exempt. The R$35,000 limit covers all virtual assets sold in Brazil, including crypto-to-crypto exchanges, which the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service treats as a sale followed by a purchase.
For products continuing on the international Binance platform, a flat 15% tax rate applies annually on capital gains regardless of amount; no R$35,000 exemption applies to foreign investments. Significantly, Binance is adapting to Brazil’s regulatory framework rather than exiting it.
Crypto Market Highlights
ESMA Sets Deadline for EU Crypto Firms to Exit Non-MiCA-Compliant Stablecoins

Bitcoin Amsterdam, Europe’s most influential annual Bitcoin conference, returns to the Sugar Factory on November 5 and 6, 2026, bringing together the banks and funds moving bitcoin onto their balance sheets, the policymakers shaping the rules around it, and the builders and community voices driving its global adoption. Now in its fifth year, the conference has become the meeting point where Bitcoin’s institutional, regulatory, and grassroots worlds converge on the same stage.
The 2026 edition opens with the BFC Symposium on November 4, a closed-door Institutional Track for the people allocating capital and building corporate Bitcoin treasuries, ahead of two days of public programming.
Confirmed speakers Bitcoin Amsterdam 2026 include:
Bitcoin community and builders
Sjors Provoost, Developer, Bitcoin Core
René Pickhardt, Lightning Network Open Source Researcher
Bert de Groot, Owner, Bitcoin Brabant B.V
Institutions and finance
Jack Mallers, Founder and CEO, Strike
David Bailey, CEO and Chairman, Nakamoto Inc.
Khing Oei, Founder and CEO, Treasury
Maarten van der Noordaa, Transition Manager, Digital Assets, Rabobank
Milko Hensel, Team Head, Tech Banking, Maerki Baumann
Denis van Beetz, Director, Private Banking, Van Lanschot Kempen
Keith Grose, UK CEO and Regional Managing Director, EU and UK, Coinbase
Willem Middelkoop, CEO and Founder, Commodity Discovery Fund
“Bitcoin doesn’t get adopted in a vacuum. It takes the institutions willing to hold it, the regulators willing to understand it, and the community that’s been building it for over a decade. Amsterdam is where all three sit down together,” said Brandon Green, CEO, BTC Inc.
For tickets, media accreditation, and the latest program updates, visit bitcoin.amsterdam.
About BTC Inc.
BTC Inc. is the world’s leading Bitcoin media enterprise, operating Bitcoin Magazine, the Bitcoin Conference, and Bitcoin for Corporations. Through its media, events, and educational platforms, BTC Inc. delivers trusted news, research, and experiences that advance Bitcoin adoption among individuals, institutions, and enterprises worldwide.BTC Inc. is a subsidiary of Nakamoto Inc. (NASDAQ: NAKA), a publicly held Bitcoin company that owns and operates a global portfolio of Bitcoin-native enterprises.
Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release constitute forward-looking statements, as defined under U.S. federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “estimate,” “project,” “predict,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “potential,” “intend,” “could,” “would,” “may,” “plan,” “will,” “seek,” “target,” or the negative of such terms or other variations thereof. However, the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding BTC Inc.’s business plans and strategies, including plans for future events, expected attendance and programming, and the anticipated growth of the Bitcoin community in Europe. These forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and involve numerous assumptions and risks. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected include, but are not limited to: (i) the volatility of Bitcoin prices and its effect on attendee, sponsor, and advertiser demand; (ii) the risk that future events may not occur as planned or may not achieve projected attendance or revenue; (iii) changes in the regulatory environment in the Netherlands, the European Union, or other jurisdictions that could affect the Company’s ability to hold or promote its events; (iv) dependence on venue availability and third-party vendors; (v) competition from other Bitcoin and digital asset conferences; (vi) risks associated with the integration of BTC Inc. into Nakamoto Inc.’s operations following the February 2026 acquisition; (vii) general economic conditions and their impact on events revenue; and (viii) other important factors detailed in Nakamoto Inc.’s Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and other documents that are filed, or will be filed, with the SEC and that are or will be available on Nakamoto’s website at www.nakamoto.com and on the website of the SEC at www.sec.gov. Because Nakamoto Inc. (NASDAQ: NAKA) is the parent company of BTC Inc., investors in Nakamoto Inc. common stock should be aware that the performance and risks of BTC Inc.’s media, events, and educational operations may affect the consolidated financial results
Disclaimer: TheNewsCrypto does not endorse any content on this page. The content depicted in this Press Release does not represent any investment advice. TheNewsCrypto recommends our readers to make decisions based on their own research. TheNewsCrypto is not accountable for any damage or loss related to content, products, or services stated in this Press Release.

ESMA wants EU crypto firms to stop offering services tied to non-MiCA-compliant stablecoins.
Firms have until January 8, 2027, to address existing client exposure and complete the transition.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has called on national regulators to ensure that crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) stop offering services tied to stablecoins that do not comply with the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).
In addition, the firms must address remaining client exposures as soon as possible and no later than January 8, 2027, giving the market roughly three months to complete the transition.
The guidance covers the full range of crypto services regulated under MiCA, including trading platforms, exchanges, order execution, transfers, custody, investment advice and portfolio management.
ESMA also expects firms to introduce technical, contractual and organisational controls that prevent EU clients from acquiring or increasing exposure to non-MiCA-compliant asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) and e-money tokens (EMTs).
Limited Services Allowed During Exit
The guidance does not require firms to immediately block every existing position. In addition, where clients already hold non-compliant stablecoins, CASPs may provide limited services needed to facilitate an orderly exit.
These can include liquidation, conversion, transfers, withdrawals and safekeeping, but such services must remain temporary, risk-based and closely supervised. Also, the aim is to prevent new exposure while giving existing clients a practical route to unwind their positions.
Moreover, ESMA has placed responsibility on national competent authorities to identify CASPs that continue to maintain or facilitate access to non-compliant stablecoins and ensure corrective measures are implemented.
MiCA Compliance Could Reshape Stablecoin Access
The deadline could have a direct impact on liquidity and availability for stablecoins that fall outside the EU’s regulatory framework. Exchanges and other service providers may need to remove trading pairs, restrict purchases and adjust custody and transfer infrastructure before the January deadline.
For users, the changes could mean fewer stablecoin options on EU-facing platforms and a greater shift toward tokens that meet MiCA requirements. Besides, for issuers and service providers, the pressure to comply could accelerate consolidation around regulated stablecoins.
On the other hand, ESMA’s latest position reinforces the bloc’s broader push to bring crypto services under a consistent regulatory framework while allowing existing holders a controlled path to exit non-compliant assets.
Crypto Market Highlights
Kyrgyzstan Shuts Down USDKG: What Happened to Its State-Backed Gold Stablecoin?

Tallinn, Estonia, October 8th, 2026, Chainwire
SaaS and eCommerce increased their combined share from 48.26% to 55.54%, while Trading moved from 14.07% to 13.15%.
Businesses can build stablecoin infrastructure around the wrong problem.
The mistake is treating stablecoins primarily as a coin-and-network decision. For a digital business, they may need to support a much broader set of operating workflows, including billing, checkout, settlement, payouts, and reconciliation.
Which of those workflows matters most depends on the business model.
New aggregated data from NOWPayments shows the industry mix shifting toward businesses that use payments as part of their day-to-day operations. Between January 16 and July 16, 2026, SaaS and web services accounted for 27.78% of classified partners. eCommerce Marketplaces followed at 27.76%. Together, the two sectors represented 55.54% of the sample. During the same period in 2025, their combined share was 48.26%. The increase of 7.28 percentage points represents a 15.08% year-over-year rise in their combined share.
Trading remained an important part of the sample, but its share moved in the opposite direction. It declined from 14.07% in 2025 to 13.15% in 2026, leaving trading in third place behind SaaS and eCommerce.
The clearest upward shift came from SaaS. Its share increased from 15.58% to 27.78% in one year, closing a gap of 17.10 percentage points with eCommerce. The emerging picture is not stablecoins replacing trading. It is stablecoin adoption expanding into the operating infrastructure of digital businesses.
Unless otherwise stated, industry-distribution figures compare January 16 to July 16, 2025, with January 16 to July 16, 2026.
The Partner Mix Is Shifting Toward Operational Use Cases
In 2025, eCommerce marketplaces led the dataset at 32.68%. SaaS and Web Services followed at 15.58%, with Trading close behind at 14.07%.
One year later, SaaS had increased its share by 12.20 percentage points to 27.78%. eCommerce stood at 27.76%, leaving only 0.02 percentage points between the two sectors. Their combined share rose from 48.26% to 55.54%. More than half of the classified partners in the 2026 sample therefore came from two sectors built around digital transactions, recurring services, and online customer relationships.
The rest of the partner mix changed more gradually.
Financial Services moved from 9.00% to 6.35%. Gambling and iGaming increased from 6.20% to 6.87%, and adult platforms rose from 4.99% to 5.89%. Charity declined from 2.27% to 1.40%, while TGE/Presale moved from 2.12% to 1.35%.
These figures measure changes in each industry’s share of the sample. They do not measure absolute partner growth. A category may lose share because another category expanded faster.
Methodology: Each percentage represents an industry’s share of the full aggregated partner sample classified across the same nine categories. The comparison covers January 16 to July 16 in both 2025 and 2026. Each period was normalized independently. Absolute partner counts are not disclosed, and percentages are rounded to two decimal places. The findings describe partner distribution within the NOWPayments dataset, not payment volume, transaction value, or market-wide industry share.
Different Business Models Need Different Stablecoin Workflows
The industry data becomes useful when it is translated into the operating questions each business model may need to solve.
For a SaaS company, stablecoin payments may need to connect with recurring billing, invoice matching, account activation, renewals, settlement, and financial reconciliation.
A marketplace may need stablecoins to work across a longer flow. The payment can begin at checkout and continue through refunds, seller settlement, affiliate commissions, and other payouts.
Trading platforms face a different set of requirements. Their priorities may include asset and network coverage, confirmation policies, liquidity, and treasury controls.
These are potential workflow drivers, not a universal description of every company in each category. The point is that the same stablecoin can serve all three sectors while performing a different operational job in each one.
This is why a business should define the workflow before choosing the asset and network.
The Network Mix Also Changes by Industry
The successful-payment data shows that industry differences extend to network usage.
USDT on TRON accounted for 54.58% of the measured successful-payment sample within eCommerce marketplaces. Its share was 12.04% in trading and 9.60% in SaaS and web services.
Within this dataset, USDT TRC20 was about 4.5 times as prominent in eCommerce as in Trading and 5.7 times as prominent as in SaaS.
The corresponding shares were 4.76% in Gambling and iGaming, 1.85% in Financial Services, 1.49% in Other, and 0.60% in Charity. Adult Platforms and TGE/Presale each recorded a 0% share in the analyzed sample.
The difference supports the same conclusion as the industry data. A stablecoin setup that fits one business model may not fit another.
For an eCommerce business, USDT on TRON may play a visible role in checkout activity. A SaaS company may see a different asset and network mix. Trading platforms may need broader coverage across both.
Businesses should validate these decisions against their own successful-payment data instead of importing the preferences of another industry.
Methodology: Each percentage represents USDT TRC20’s share of the aggregated successful-payment sample within the corresponding industry. Absolute transaction counts are not disclosed. Failed, expired, refunded, and test transactions are excluded. The figures describe activity within the NOWPayments ecosystem and should not be interpreted as market-wide currency shares. A 0% result means that no successful USDT TRC20 payments were recorded in the analyzed sample for that category.
Build the Workflow Before Choosing the Rails
The five operating areas introduced at the beginning provide a practical framework for evaluating stablecoin infrastructure.
Billing: Does the payment need to connect with invoices, subscriptions, renewals, or account access?
Checkout: Which assets and networks produce completed payments for the company’s actual customers?
Settlement: Which asset should the business receive, and when should funds become available?
Payouts: Will funds need to move to sellers, affiliates, contractors, or customers?
Reconciliation: How will the finance team match transactions with invoices, orders, and internal reporting?
Not every business needs all five. A SaaS platform may focus on billing and reconciliation. A marketplace may need checkout, settlement, and payouts. A trading platform may prioritize network coverage, liquidity, and treasury controls.
The company should first identify which workflows apply. Asset and network selection comes after that.
“The mistake is asking which stablecoin is best. The better question is: best for what?” said Kate Lifshits, Commercial Director at NOWPayments. “Businesses should define the billing, checkout, settlement, payout, and reconciliation flow first. The coin and network should serve that workflow – not the other way around.”
Lifshits explores the commercial side of crypto payments in her Cryptopolitan series, Crypto That Works for Business. The first column, The 22% Sales Boost Hiding in Your Crypto Checkout, examined how payment infrastructure can affect checkout performance. Future installments will continue looking at where crypto payments can increase revenue, lower costs, and remove operational friction.
Stablecoin strategy starts with the job the money needs to do. The coin and network come next.
About NOWPayments
NOWPayments is a crypto business ecosystem designed to help companies accept payments, automate mass payouts, manage stablecoin treasury, and scale global digital asset operations through a single infrastructure. The platform supports more than 350 cryptocurrencies, over 30 stablecoins, flexible settlement options, and enterprise-grade APIs.
Contacts
PR ManagerAngelina TNOWPaymentsangelina.tmk@nowpayments.ioCommercial DirectorKate LNOWPaymentskate.l@nowpayments.io

Greece has proposed a 10% tax on individual crypto capital gains, with gains of up to €500 per tax year exempt.
The draft also covers staking, crypto lending and liquidity provision, while crypto-to-crypto swaps would not trigger capital gains tax.
Greece has proposed a 10% tax on individual cryptocurrency capital gains, with annual gains of up to €500 exempt from tax under a new draft law released for public consultation.
The proposal was published by Greece’s Ministry of National Economy and Finance on October 7, 2026, as part of a wider package covering private debt, financial markets and digital assets. The government says the crypto provisions are intended to close a gap in the country’s tax rules and establish a clear framework for how digital assets are treated.
Under the proposed rules, taxable gains would generally be calculated from the difference between the price at which a crypto asset was acquired and the price at which it was transferred. The draft also sets rules for documenting transactions and calculating the average acquisition price when the same asset is purchased multiple times.
The €500 exemption applies to total capital gains in a tax year, rather than to each individual transaction. Crypto-to-crypto exchanges would also not be treated as taxable capital gains under the proposal.
Staking and Crypto Income Also Covered
The draft goes beyond profits from selling cryptocurrencies. Income from crypto lending, liquidity provision and staking would be treated as interest and taxed at 10%.
The proposal also classifies crypto purchases as expenditure for acquiring assets under Greece’s tax-imputation rules. It sets valuation rules for cryptoassets received as benefits in kind by employees, partners or shareholders, while separate provisions cover cryptocurrencies received through inheritance, donations or parental transfers.
Greece is currently holding a public consultation on the draft, which is scheduled to close on October 22. The government plans to submit the legislation to Parliament and aims for a vote in the first week of November, meaning the 10% tax is not yet in force.
The latest proposal also marks a change from an earlier plan reported in June, when Greece was preparing a 15% tax rate with the same €500 annual exemption.
Greek authorities have not provided a revenue estimate for the proposed tax, saying it is difficult to measure the country’s crypto market because many investors use platforms based outside Greece.

Polygon Open Money Stack now supports TRON, allowing businesses to manage USDT deposits, wallets, cross-chain transfers and payouts via one integration.
TRON has more than $94 billion in circulating USDT and over $30 trillion in cumulative transfer volume.
Polygon Labs has added TRON support to its Open Money Stack, allowing businesses to build payment products around USDT on TRON and connect those transactions with bank accounts, cards, cash and other blockchain networks.
Polygon announced the integration on October 8, saying businesses can now run a full stablecoin payment flow through Open Money Stack, from deposits and wallets to cross-chain transfers and payouts. The expansion gives fintechs, remittance companies, exchanges and payment platforms access to more than $94 billion in circulating USDT on TRON.
So, businesses can accept deposits through bank transfers, cards, cash or cryptocurrency, then convert fiat into USDT on TRON using the TRC-20 standard. They can also store USDT in custodial or embedded wallets, move funds between TRON and supported networks, and send payouts to bank accounts, cards, cash locations or crypto wallets.
(Source: Polygon)
Polygon said the integration is aimed at businesses whose customers already use TRON to receive and transfer USDT. Instead of requiring customers to move their funds to another network, companies can keep TRON as part of their existing payment flow.
TRON USDT Connects With Cross-Chain and Fiat Rails
The integration also adds cross-chain routing through Polygon’s infrastructure. Businesses can move supported assets between TRON and EVM-compatible networks without requiring customers to interact directly with a separate bridge or wallet provider.
For deposits, Open Money Stack can provide persistent TRON addresses for customers and match incoming USDT payments to the correct account. Businesses can then manage those balances and route funds according to their payment requirements.
Meanwhile, Polygon’s existing fiat infrastructure also provides on- and off-ramp capabilities. Polygon says its money-transmitter licensing covers 48 U.S. states, allowing supported businesses to connect blockchain-based funds with traditional payment rails.
So far, the TRON network has processed more than $30 trillion in cumulative transaction volume and recorded over 407 million accounts and 15 billion transactions, according to figures cited by Polygon from TRONSCAN. TRON also has more than $28 billion in total value locked.
Polygon said the TRON integration is intended for businesses that need deposits, wallets, cross-chain routing and payouts without building each part of the payment system separately.

Samsung Wallet is integrating Sui to bring USDC support directly to 82 million eligible U.S. Galaxy devices, without requiring a new app or separate crypto wallet.
The U.S. is the first launch market, with expansion to additional regions planned, subject to local regulatory requirements.
Samsung Wallet is integrating Sui as its blockchain infrastructure partner, bringing USDC support directly to Galaxy device users across the United States. The rollout covers 82 million eligible U.S. Galaxy devices, not a new app to download, not a separate crypto wallet to set up.
The Samsung Wallet is already sitting on the home screen, and it is now capable of holding and sending USDC over the Sui network. The service launches in the U.S. first, with additional markets planned subject to local regulations.
Why Sui, and Why It Actually Matters?
Sui’s gasless stablecoin transfer infrastructure went live on Mainnet in May 2026. Moreover, a user can send USDC on Sui without paying a network fee and without holding any SUI tokens to cover gas. The transfer costs $0.00 at the network level.
For anyone who has tried to send crypto before, that distinction matters. The usual friction of buying a gas token, calculating fees, and worrying about failed transactions is gone. That made it convenient to open Samsung Wallet, choose a recipient, and send USDC.
The Remittance Angle
Samsung and Sui are not positioning this as a crypto product. Significantly, they are positioning it as a money transfer product, and the numbers behind that market are significant.
In addition, more than 1.3 billion people worldwide send or receive remittances. Digital apps are already the preferred method in every country included in Visa’s 20-market remittance survey.
Besides, 41% of U.S. remittance users surveyed by Visa said they would use stablecoins for international money transfers if the option were available. Stablecoin transaction volume exceeded $83 trillion over the last 12 months.
What is Supported at Launch?
USDC is the only supported asset at launch. The SUI token is not supported in Samsung Wallet, and users do not need to hold SUI to send USDC. Samsung Wallet also supports USDC transfers on Solana for cross-border remittances, rolling out to U.S. Galaxy users in the last week of October, with fiat on- and off-ramps built directly into the wallet rather than a separate crypto interface.
Furthermore, this is not a crypto company trying to reach mainstream users. This is a mainstream company, with 82 million devices already in American hands, likely making crypto the default way to move money.
Crypto Market Highlights
FNB Steps Into Crypto as Demand for Digital Assets Grows in South Africa

FNB customers can now trade BTC, ETH, XRP, SOL, and USDT directly through the bank’s existing share-trading platform.
The service starts from just R10 and operates 24/7, reflecting growing demand for crypto and alternative investment options.
First National Bank, part of South Africa’s second-largest banking group by assets, has launched a crypto investing service for its customers in partnership with licensed local exchange VALR. The move puts BTC, ETH, XRP, SOL, and USDT directly inside FNB’s existing share-trading platform, available around the clock from as little as R10.
In addition, FNB serves close to 9 million customers, and the launch responds to what the bank describes as consistent and growing demand for alternative investment options.
Why FNB Moved Now?
Crypto assets under custody at major South African platforms, Luno, VALR, and Ovex, topped R25 billion by late 2025. More than 6 million South Africans hold a crypto asset, with the country recording one of the largest Bitcoin uptake rates in the world.
Sizwe Nxedlana, CEO of FNB and RMB Private Banking and Wealth Management, framed the launch directly as a response to customer feedback, not a speculative bet on the asset class. Bheki Mkhize, CEO of FNB Wealth and Asset Management, added that clients have been showing significant interest in cryptocurrency and that FNB’s role is to give them a trusted platform to access it alongside the tools to manage their risk.
The Restriction You Need to Know About
There is one important limitation. Crypto assets cannot be transferred into or out of the FNB system. That makes this offering different from a standalone exchange account: customers get investment exposure within the bank’s environment, not unrestricted access to move coins wherever they choose.
Moreover, South African exchange-control regulations govern how value moves across borders, and the restriction also serves as a security measure; keeping assets within a controlled environment reduces exposure to scam wallets and fraudulent platforms.
FNB Is Not the First, But the Scale Is Different
Discovery Bank struck a similar arrangement with Luno in November 2025, allowing clients to link their Luno accounts to buy, hold, and sell crypto through the Discovery Bank app.
Also, FNB entering the space through VALR, with a broader customer base and deeper retail banking reach, takes the mainstream adoption story in South Africa to a different level entirely.
FNB has also signalled this is just the beginning, with plans to broaden the crypto offering and add educational content as the service develops. Significantly, when a bank opens a regulated, familiar gateway to Bitcoin and Ethereum, the barrier to first-time crypto ownership drops notably.
Crypto Market Highlights
Bitcoin (BTC) Support Band Moves Up as Price Faces a Crucial Retest