Latest news

07:10 Security

D'CENT investigates app wallet flaw after trackers link XRP losses to thousands of addresses

D'CENT probes app wallet transfers as trackers flag up to 9.3M XRP drained South Korean wallet maker D'CENT said it is investigating unauthorized transfers from its mobile App Wallet after on-chain trackers linked the incident to thousands of XRP Ledger addresses. The company said users may be affected if they used app versions earlier than 8.1.0, while XRPL.to tracked 2 million XRP leaving 1,552 wallets in two hours and XRPL Intel later estimated losses at 9.3 million XRP across 6,160 addresses, figures D'CENT has not confirmed.

06:44 Stablecoins

Coins.ph Says Stablecoin B2B Pivot Reached Nearly $100M in Daily Volume

Coins.ph says B2B stablecoin pivot now drives $100M in daily volume Coins.ph CEO Wei Zhou said the Philippine exchange has shifted from weak retail crypto trading to B2B stablecoin infrastructure, processing nearly $100 million a day in USDT and USDC to pesos over the past couple of weeks. Zhou said demand is coming from cross-border businesses, payment aggregators and remittance platforms, with weekend volumes higher because banks are closed and traditional FX rails stop.

06:11 ETF & Funds

CME Plans Bitcoin Cash and Uniswap Futures Launch for Oct. 19

CME to launch BCH and UNI futures on Oct. 19 CME Group said it will launch Bitcoin Cash and Uniswap futures on Oct. 19, pending regulatory review, expanding its single-asset crypto lineup with full-size and Micro contracts for both tokens. The announcement triggered a sharp market reaction: BCH jumped from $270 to $328 on Binance within 90 minutes of the 8:30 a.m. ET release and later reached $340, while UNI rose about 15% to above $10.

05:41 Infrastructure

Solana moves Alpenglow upgrade to public testnet with faster finality target

Solana moves Alpenglow speed upgrade to public testnet Solana has started rolling out its Alpenglow upgrade on the public testnet, where developers will test cutting transaction finality from about 13 seconds to 0.15 seconds. The upgrade replaces TowerBFT with a new voting protocol called Votor, letting validators finalize blocks in one or two rounds without changing how users send funds. The initial migration requires Agave 4.3 and does not yet support Firedancer or Frankendancer.

05:12 Regulation

US prosecutors examine Binance over possible Iran sanctions breaches

US prosecutors probe whether Binance knowingly violated Iran sanctions Federal prosecutors are investigating whether Binance knowingly allowed trading that breached US sanctions on Iran, Bloomberg reported Sept. 22, with Reuters separately confirming the probe. The SDNY and the Justice Department’s criminal division are examining the issue after Manhattan prosecutors alleged in a Sept. 14 forfeiture case that two Chinese firms used Binance accounts to launder more than $1.5 billion in Iranian oil proceeds. No charges have been filed.

03:12 Regulation

BSP Memo Sets Mandatory Token Listing and Delisting Rules for Philippine VASPs

BSP sets token listing rules for Philippine crypto platforms The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas signed Memorandum M-2026-023 on June 5, creating mandatory listing and delisting rules for VASPs offering digital assets under MORNBFI Section 161-M / Section 902-N. The memo requires due diligence across six assessment pillars, bans privacy virtual assets, and mandates immediate suspension or delisting after events such as lost liquidity support, security breaches, stablecoin de-pegging, misleading disclosures, or regulatory orders.

02:41 ETF & Funds

21Shares Lists Europe’s First Spot Zcash ETP on Euronext

21Shares lists Europe’s first spot Zcash ETP on Euronext 21Shares has launched Europe’s first exchange-traded product backed by Zcash, listing the spot ETP on Euronext Paris and Amsterdam on Sept. 22, Cointelegraph reported. The product gives investors exposure to Zcash through traditional brokerage accounts without holding the token directly. 21Shares also listed a physically backed ETHFI ETP the same day; both products charge a 2.5% annual fee.

01:43 ETF & Funds

Binance Invests $100 Million in Circle and Signs Five-Year USDC Promotion Deal

Binance buys $100M of Circle stock in USDC expansion deal Binance bought 1.237 million Circle Class A shares for $100 million at $80.84 each in a private placement that closed on Sept. 17, while the companies signed a new five-year commercial agreement to promote USDC on Binance. Under the deal, Circle will pay Binance a monthly fee tied to USDC held through Circle’s wallet infrastructure, giving the exchange both equity exposure to Circle and a direct incentive to grow USDC balances.

01:42 Infrastructure

Celestia Puts $1.5M Blob Economy Plan to Governance as TIA Rebounds

Celestia updates $1.5M blob economy plan as TIA jumps 11% Celestia released version 2.0 of its Sustainable Blob Economy governance package on Sept. 22, outlining up to $1.5 million across six proposals to test paid capacity commitments, bonded services and whether protocol revenue could offset part of TIA issuance. Nothing has been approved or activated yet, but TIA traded near $0.48 on Sept. 23, up about 11% in 24 hours.

00:11 Regulation

CFTC says person-based prediction markets need tougher review over manipulation risks

CFTC warns prediction markets tied to individuals face higher manipulation risk The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued an advisory targeting “mention markets,” saying contracts based on what a named person might say or do are more vulnerable to manipulation than conventional outcome-based markets. The agency did not ban them, but said approval should face a higher bar, with independent verifiability, substantial public scrutiny, and monitoring for signs of gaming.

23:55 Payments

SoFi shifts Mastercard card settlement to SoFiUSD for $25 billion annual program

SoFi shifts $25B Mastercard card program to stablecoin settlement SoFi has become the first nationally chartered bank to settle Mastercard card transactions with stablecoins, moving its entire debit and credit card program — expected to process $25 billion a year — onto SoFiUSD rails. The bank said transactions were already live Tuesday, with CEO Anthony Noto framing the rollout as a way to speed access to funds while keeping bank safeguards in place.

23:41 DeFi

Lido DAO Executes Vote #205, Activating Delegation Upgrade and 9,600 ETH Reserve Cap

Lido executes Aragon Vote #205 with LIP-37 and reserve controls Lido DAO’s Aragon Vote #205 passed and was executed on Sept. 21 at 13:45 UTC, enacting the LIP-37 Execution Delegation Framework, upgrading the DepositSecurityModule to v5, rotating operational keys for Kiln and Stakely, and creating a Deposit Reserve Target Easy Track factory. The new reserve mechanism has a 9,600 ETH ceiling under CMC oversight, setting a new operating baseline for execution delegation, permissions and deposit reserves.

22:41 Regulation

SEC readies crypto custody rule for broker-dealers and investment advisers

SEC prepares crypto custody rule for broker-dealers and advisers The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is preparing a rule to spell out how broker-dealers can custody non-security crypto assets without separate registration and which institutions investment advisers can use to hold client crypto, including state-chartered trust companies. The framework would cover both security and non-security tokens and is expected to be released after White House review and a public comment period.

21:55 DeFi

Aave Governance Reviews Higher Borrowing Limits for WETH, WBTC and Staked ETH Collateral

Aave weighs higher borrowing limits for WETH, WBTC and staked ETH collateral A new Aave ARFC proposes raising loan-to-value and liquidation thresholds for major collateral assets including WETH, WBTC, cbBTC, wstETH and weETH across Ethereum, Base and Arbitrum. The headline change would lift WETH to 81% LTV with an 84% liquidation threshold, increasing capital efficiency for borrowers, but the parameters are still under governance discussion and are not yet live.

21:42 DeFi

Aave proposal targets USDe listing on V3 market on X Layer

Aave proposal seeks to add Ethena’s USDe to V3 on X Layer An ARFC filed for Aave V3 on X Layer proposes onboarding Ethena’s USDe as a supply, borrow and collateral asset, with a 100 million supply cap and 50 million borrow cap. The plan would also add USDe as a borrowable stablecoin in existing xBTC, xETH, xSOL and wOKB E-Mode categories, while pricing it via Chainlink’s USDT/USD feed with a 4% stable price cap adapter. Final parameters are still subject to review by Aave risk and technical providers.

18:40 Regulation

HMRC assigns compliance managers to all UK-linked billionaires as crypto reporting expands

HMRC assigns personal compliance managers to all UK-linked billionaires HM Revenue and Customs has assigned a personal compliance manager to every billionaire it can tie to the UK, extending the list beyond people who file a British tax return. HMRC rebuilt the list using its own records, rich lists and data from other governments, with each manager mapping an individual’s companies, trusts and other entities. Crypto is not named as a target, but UK exchange reporting data will start reaching HMRC in 2027 under the Cryptoasset Reporting Framework.

17:56 Infrastructure

World Chain Enables Karst Upgrade, Requiring Updated OP Stack Node Software

World Chain activates Karst upgrade, requiring new node software World Chain activated its Karst upgrade at 12:00 UTC on Sept. 21, making new OP Stack software mandatory for node operators on mainnet. Nodes now need op-geth v1.101701.0 or newer and op-node v1.16.9 or newer; operators that stay on older versions risk falling out of consensus with the canonical chain. End users do not need to take any action.

17:40 ETF & Funds

Bitwise’s NEAR Staking ETP Crosses $100 Million as Token Rally Lifts Assets

Bitwise NEAR staking ETP tops $100M as token rally drives AUM Bitwise said its NEAR Staking ETP in Frankfurt has passed $100 million in assets under management, with holdings of 25.2 million NEAR worth about $116 million at Tuesday’s price. The move was driven mainly by NEAR’s 135% gain over the past 30 days, while units outstanding rose just 0.6% month over month, suggesting limited new investor inflows rather than fresh demand carrying the fund over the line.

14:57 Prediction Markets

Kalshi asks CFTC to approve margin trading for select event contracts

Kalshi seeks CFTC approval for margin on select event contracts Kalshi Klear filed with the CFTC on Sept. 22 to introduce margin for selected event contracts, replacing full upfront collateral with a modeled initial-margin system for qualified participants trading through FCMs or as approved self-clearing members. The proposal excludes sports markets and would let Kalshi approve margin eligibility by product and by YES or NO side, with contracts returning to full collateralization near resolution.

13:12 DeFi

LlamaRisk Seeks Aave V3 Cap Updates for wstETH and USDe Reserves

LlamaRisk proposes Aave V3 cap changes for wstETH and USDe LlamaRisk recommended raising Aave V3 Core’s wstETH borrow cap from 14,000 to 28,000 after utilization reached 99.8%, lifting Aave V3 Plasma’s USDe supply cap from 550 million to 750 million, and cutting Aave V3 Core’s USDe borrow cap from 700 million to 100 million, where only 77.9 million is currently borrowed. The changes are set to be implemented through the Risk Steward process.

13:10 ETF & Funds

CME Group Plans BCH and UNI Futures Launch on October 19, Pending Review

CME Group to launch BCH and UNI futures on October 19 CME Group said it will add Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Uniswap (UNI) futures on October 19, pending regulatory review, giving institutions a regulated way to gain or hedge exposure without holding the tokens. The exchange will offer standard and micro contracts; UNI rose about 5% and BCH nearly 10% within minutes of Tuesday’s announcement.

11:55 Regulation

ECB and EU Central Banks Seek MiCA Rewrite on Stablecoin Reserve Deposits

ECB and EU central banks push to scrap MiCA stablecoin deposit rule The ECB and other EU central banks want MiCA’s stablecoin reserve rules changed, arguing mandatory bank deposits could amplify stress on lenders during sudden redemptions. In a response to the European Commission’s MiCA review, the ESCB proposed replacing the 30% reserve deposit requirement, or 60% for significant stablecoins, with liquidity thresholds tied to assets maturing within one and five working days.

09:26 Security

Dutch police arrest two in alleged fake EURC Rolex scam

Dutch police arrest two men over fake EURC Rolex purchases Dutch police arrested two men, 24 and 45, in an investigation into alleged crypto fraud after Marktplaats sellers reported handing over Rolex watches in exchange for counterfeit EURC tokens. Police said the fake tokens looked identical to genuine EURC at first glance; one suspect remains detained for 14 days, while investigators review seized data-storage devices for links to other cases.

08:56 Market

Upbit places SOPH under review as Binance removes seven USDC spot pairs

Upbit puts SOPH under warning as Binance drops 7 USDC spot pairs Upbit has placed Sophon (SOPH) under a trading warning and suspended deposits, with a review period running from Sept. 22 to Oct. 12–16. The exchange said it may lift the warning, extend the review, or end trading support if the issues are not resolved. Separately, Binance will remove AIXBT/USDC, DOLO/USDC, ENJ/USDC, HUMA/USDC, SXT/USDC, TNSR/USDC and TURTLE/USDC at 03:00 UTC on Sept. 25, citing low liquidity and trading volume.

07:41 Regulation

South Korea FSC to Fast-Track Digital Asset Basic Act for November Assembly Talks

South Korea FSC to fast-track Digital Asset Basic Act for November talks South Korea’s Financial Services Commission said it will speed up submission of the Digital Asset Basic Act so substantive debate can begin at a National Assembly subcommittee in November. Speaking at a National Assembly seminar on Sept. 22, FSC Virtual Asset Division head Seo Na-yoon said the bill is meant to cover a broad framework for digital-asset issuance, distribution and market-entry rules, while stressing the regulator has not finalized the details.

06:57 Regulation

Agora receives conditional OCC approval for proposed national trust bank

Agora wins conditional OCC approval for national trust bank Agora has received preliminary conditional approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to form Agora National Trust Bank, a New York-based unit that would bring its stablecoin issuance, custody and transaction infrastructure under federal supervision. Final approval depends on meeting OCC preopening conditions, including at least $10 million in Tier 1 capital and passing an OCC exam before launch.

05:26 Tokenization

Ondo adds in-kind mint and redemption for tokenized stocks through Alpaca network

Ondo opens in-kind tokenized stock conversions via Alpaca Ondo Finance said approved institutions can now mint and redeem Ondo Stocks by transferring underlying shares or ETFs through Alpaca’s Instant Tokenization Network, removing the separate cash step used in its existing primary-market process. The service is live on Ethereum and BNB Chain, with access granted case by case and requiring active Ondo and Alpaca accounts.

04:11 Regulation

SEC Signals Tokenized Stock Platforms Could Emerge as Soon as Next Quarter

SEC opens path for tokenized stock platforms under five-year exemption The SEC said tokenized stock trading platforms could start taking shape as early as next quarter under its new five-year Innovation Exemption, which lets eligible operators trade tokenized U.S.-listed stocks on public blockchains using AMMs and liquidity pools. Firms must publicly disclose how the business works and notify the SEC within one business day, making those filings the first signal of who plans to enter the market.

03:56 Regulation

BSP Proposes Stricter E-Wallet Merchant Checks After Illegal Casinos Used Front Businesses

Philippine central bank tightens e-wallet merchant checks over illegal casino front firms The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has proposed stricter onboarding rules for e-wallet merchants after finding thousands of illegal online casinos posing as bakeries, beauty salons, and sari-sari stores on local payment platforms. Under the draft rules, e-wallet operators would be directly liable for merchant vetting, requiring verified owner IDs, business permits, and database registration checks, with repeat failures risking loss of their payment licenses.

03:55 Regulation

Abbott Orders Texas Permit Freeze for Data Centers Pending ERCOT Grid Audit

Texas halts data center permits pending ERCOT grid audit Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to stop issuing permits for data center projects until ERCOT completes its grid audit, expected by December. His Sept. 21 directive also bars other state agencies from approving projects until PUCT, ERCOT, and the Texas Water Development Board get more information, including developers’ power, water, cooling, subsidy, and ownership plans.

03:26 Tokenization

Binance Broadens Tokenized Stock Collateral Access Beyond VIP Users

Binance opens tokenized stock collateral to all eligible users Binance said Sept. 21 it expanded bstocks collateral support from high-volume VIP accounts to all eligible retail and institutional users, allowing tokenized stocks to be used in portfolio margin and cross margin accounts for futures and margin trading. The exchange said bstocks have generated more than $30 billion in cumulative volume since June 2026, with tokenized-stock trading volume up 33x year to date, while automated risk controls now apply to VIP 0-2 users.

03:25 Court

California Woman Sentenced to 18 Months Over Unreported Income Tied to Adam Iza

California woman gets 18 months for hiding $2.6M tied to Adam Iza scheme Iris Au, 37, of Irvine was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison after failing to report more than $2.6 million moved into her bank accounts between 2020 and 2023 from Adam Iza’s illegal activities. Prosecutors said Au also helped move Iza’s funds through shell companies and used about $16 million to buy cryptocurrency for him; she was ordered to pay $1.48 million in restitution and forfeit luxury assets.

01:40 Court

U.S. prosecutors examine Binance over possible Iran sanctions violations

Manhattan prosecutors probe Binance over possible Iran sanctions breaches U.S. federal prosecutors in Manhattan are examining whether Binance violated sanctions rules by failing to block certain Iran-related transactions, with the Justice Department’s criminal division involved in the probe. It is unclear which transactions are under scrutiny or whether charges will follow, but prosecutors have also widened investigations into crypto flows tied to Iran, including a forfeiture action seeking $61 million allegedly laundered through Binance from black-market oil sales.

00:56 Companies

BitMine reports 5.98 million ETH treasury valued within $17.1 billion asset base

BitMine discloses 5.98 million ETH treasury in Sept. 21 filing BitMine Immersion Technologies said in a Sept. 21 filing that it holds 5,983,940 ETH, just short of 6 million tokens, valuing its combined disclosed treasury assets at $17.1 billion. The filing says the ETH position equals about 4.9% of circulating supply by its calculation and also lists 212 BTC, $714 million in cash and marketable securities, plus stakes in Beast Industries and Eightco.

22:26 Stablecoins

Circle Opens BTC-Backed USDC Borrowing to Eligible Institutional Mint Clients

Circle launches BTC-backed USDC borrowing for institutions Circle has rolled out Digital Asset-Backed Borrowing, a service that lets eligible Circle Mint institutions borrow USDC against Bitcoin without selling it. Clients deposit BTC, receive Circle’s wrapped token cirBTC, and use it as collateral in third-party lending markets, initially Morpho on Arc and Ethereum; New York-based customers are excluded, and loan terms are set by the chosen market.

22:25 Tokenization

ECB launches Pontes and prepares tokenized bond investments

ECB launches Pontes for tokenized settlement in central bank money The European Central Bank has officially launched Pontes, the Eurosystem’s platform for settling tokenized transactions in central bank money, a key step for scaling tokenized securities markets. At the same time, the ECB said it plans to invest some of its own funds in tokenized securities issued by governments, agencies and supranational organizations, with preparatory work still underway; Axiology, Cashlink, Clearstream and SWIAT are live at launch.

21:10 Companies

Strategy Buys 950 BTC for $76 Million, Marking First Purchase Since Aug. 31

Strategy resumes Bitcoin buying with $76 million purchase Strategy (MSTR) said it bought 950 BTC for about $76 million over the past week at an average price of $79,670, lifting its holdings to 846,000 BTC. The purchase is the company’s first since Aug. 31 and follows $432 million in Bitcoin sales since May under its BTC monetization program to support cash reserves and dividends.

19:42 Security

Immunefi CEO says Liquid attackers lost white-hat standing by keeping 598.5 BTC

Immunefi CEO says Liquid attackers lost any white-hat claim Immunefi founder and CEO Mitchell Amador said the Liquid Network attackers gave up any white-hat status by keeping 598.5 BTC after returning 3,400 BTC from the roughly 4,000 BTC exploit. He said moving user funds without permission and then setting bounty terms ends coordinated disclosure, while Blockstream has rejected the group’s 10% bounty demand and called the remaining holdback theft.

17:10 Infrastructure

Bitcoin Core 32 begins final testing, with Oct. 10 release targeted

Bitcoin Core 32 enters release-candidate testing ahead of Oct. 10 target Bitcoin Core developers have moved v32.0 into release-candidate testing, with a stable release targeted for Oct. 10 if public checks uncover no major issues. The update includes parallel database reads to speed block validation, defaults four wallet commands to PSBT v2, and patches unsafe wallet names and an unauthenticated HTTP issue that previously drove memory use to about 3.2 GB in one test.

16:11 Security

Z.ai open-sources ZCode after unauthorized repository uploads came to light

Z.ai open-sources ZCode after unauthorized file uploads exposed Z.ai has open-sourced its ZCode coding assistant after apologizing for a flaw that quietly sent developers’ local project files to Alibaba Cloud without permission. The issue, uncovered on Sept. 18 by blogger Ferstar, involved an encrypted 313 MB archive of a commercial project, including Git history; Z.ai says the uploads have stopped and any uploaded data was deleted and not used to train models.

14:15 DeFi

Aave ARFC moves toward Snapshot with higher ETH and BTC collateral settings

Aave proposal advances to Snapshot with higher BTC and ETH collateral limits An Aave Request for Comment to raise collateral parameters for ETH- and BTC-backed assets on Aave V3 and V4 has been moved to Snapshot, with voting set to start in under 24 hours. The proposal would lift WETH to 81% LTV and 84% LT on Ethereum Core, Arbitrum, and Base, raise WBTC and cbBTC as high as 81% LTV and 85% LT on Ethereum Core, and increase Aave V4 Ethereum Main Spoke collateral factors to as much as 85%.

10:56 Infrastructure

ECB launches Pontes for wholesale DLT settlement in central bank money

ECB launches Pontes for wholesale blockchain settlement The European Central Bank has launched Pontes, a platform linking market DLT systems with the Eurosystem’s TARGET Services so tokenized asset trades can settle in central bank euros. Deutsche Bank, Santander and Clearstream are among the first users. The ECB also said it plans to put a small share of its €23 billion own-funds portfolio into blockchain-based bonds.

10:44 Security

Kasplex Indexer Flaw Lets Attacker Drain ZEAL and NACHO Bridge Backing

Kasplex indexer flaw lets attacker drain ZEAL and NACHO bridge backing An attacker used five valid Kaspa transactions to trick the off-chain Kasplex KRC-20 indexer into crediting unsigned transfers, pulling 186.4 million ZEAL and 54.4 billion NACHO from a bridge custody wallet and dumping the minted L2 tokens into Zealous Swap pools. Kaspa’s base chain was not hacked, but affected pools lost 94% to 99.6% of their KAS-side value and Igra paused iKAS exits and Hyperlane transfers while operators prepare a patch and reindex.

08:56 Security

Upbit places MultiversX’s EGLD under review after mainnet exploit attempt

Upbit puts MultiversX’s EGLD under trading caution after mainnet exploit attempt Upbit placed EGLD/KRW, EGLD/BTC and EGLD/USDT under a trading caution designation on Sept. 21 after MultiversX confirmed an attempted VM-level atomicity exploit that caused invalid state changes and halted network progression. EGLD deposits and withdrawals remain suspended, and Upbit said it will review the token through Oct. 19-23 before deciding whether to lift the warning, extend it or end trading support.

08:11 Regulation

South Korea Ruling Party Seeks to Delay 2027 Crypto Tax, While Favoring Repeal

South Korea ruling party pushes to delay crypto tax set for 2027 South Korea’s ruling People Power Party is moving to formally seek a delay in virtual-asset taxation due to start in January 2027, arguing systems for verifying acquisition costs, trading records and newer transaction types are still not ready. The party said it will hold a public hearing and ultimately favors abolishing the tax, but the government still plans to proceed and issue guidelines as early as October 2026.

07:55 Regulation

Bank of Russia Draft Rules Would Cap Banks’ Crypto Exposure at 1% of Capital

Bank of Russia proposes 1% crypto risk cap for banks The Bank of Russia has proposed limiting banks’ total exposure to cryptocurrencies and foreign digital instruments to 1% of capital under new prudential rules for the country’s regulated crypto market. The draft would apply to direct holdings as well as loans, derivatives, bonds, repo deals, guarantees and credit lines tied to crypto, with breaches punishable if they occur on six or more operating days within 30 days. Reporting is set to start in January 2027.

06:56 Regulation

Vietnam Aims to Launch First Licensed Crypto Service Providers in 2026

Vietnam targets 2026 launch for first licensed crypto platforms Vietnam expects its first licensed crypto asset service providers to begin operating in 2026 under a five-year market pilot, as regulators build supervision rules around risk management, investor asset protection and anti-money laundering controls. Five companies have passed an initial assessment, but no final exchange license had been issued as of Aug. 30, and passing the review does not allow trading operations.

05:57 Infrastructure

Zcash Targets Nov. 5 for NU7 Upgrade With 25-Second Block Times

Zcash targets Nov. 5 for NU7 upgrade with 25-second block times Zcash developers have set Nov. 5 as the target date for NU7 mainnet activation, a protocol upgrade that would cut the network’s target block interval from 75 seconds to 25 seconds under ZIP 254. Testnet activation is targeted for Oct. 6, with a final go/no-go decision on Oct. 20, leaving room to delay mainnet if testing uncovers serious issues.

05:57 Regulation

US Sanctions Bitbank Over Alleged Bitcoin Transfers to Iran’s IRGC

US sanctions Iranian crypto exchange Bitbank over alleged IRGC bitcoin transfers The US Treasury sanctioned Iranian crypto exchange Bitbank, its software developer Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company, and three associates of Babak Zanjani’s network, alleging Zanjani used the platform in June and July to move hundreds of millions of dollars in bitcoin to the IRGC. The OFAC action expands US sanctions on Iran’s digital asset infrastructure and blocks dealings with the designated parties.

05:55 Stablecoins

Neutrl Opens Emergency NUSD Redemptions at About $0.51 in USDC

Neutrl opens emergency NUSD redemptions at about $0.51 in USDC Neutrl has launched an emergency on-chain redemption vault that lets NUSD holders redeem for USDC at roughly $0.51 per token, after losses hit the junior tranche of a Strata collateral vault. The payout comes from the redemption contract and is not a new peg, with remaining senior collateral funding the redemptions.