Strategy buys 1,665 BTC, lifting holdings to 847,666 Bitcoin Strategy said it bought 1,665 BTC for about $142.7 million at an average price of $85,681, raising its total holdings to 847,666 BTC, or more than 4% of Bitcoin’s 21 million maximum supply. The purchase was funded with common stock sales and cash, and brings the company’s cumulative Bitcoin spend to about $64 billion at an average purchase price of $75,437.
Tether says it helped freeze nearly $550M in Iran-linked USDT Tether said Monday it assisted law enforcement in freezing nearly $550 million in Iran-linked USDT, pushing back as a Senate Democratic report released the same day argued USDT is Iran’s main crypto payment rail. The report, promoted by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, reviewed 846 sanctioned addresses tied to Iran or Iran-backed groups and said Tether has been too slow to block activity; CEO Paolo Ardoino rejected that premise.
IRS warns crypto ETFs on tax strategy, signals possible retroactive action The IRS issued a notice Monday targeting ETFs that hold digital assets and use in-kind redemptions to avoid booking gains, warning that future guidance could apply retroactively to past transactions; comments are due by October 28. The agency did not name funds, but said the approach can involve direct crypto holdings or trusts, while funds using offshore subsidiaries may fall outside the notice.
Bitget says $388M hack came through third-party product vulnerability Bitget CEO Gracy Chen said the attacker behind last week’s $388 million theft exploited vulnerabilities in third-party products, stole internal credentials and sent fraudulent withdrawal commands that bypassed the exchange’s risk controls. Chen said no private keys or cold wallets were compromised, the incident has been contained, and withdrawals are resuming in phases from BTC on Monday to other tokens, fiat and P2P trades by Friday.
Dutch police arrest convicted hacker Pepijn van der Stap over ShinyHunters links Dutch authorities detained 24-year-old Pepijn van der Stap, known online as “Umbreon,” on September 16 on suspicion of aiding hacking group ShinyHunters, KrebsonSecurity reports. Police say he is due in Rotterdam District Court on September 29, and local media said the US is also involved. Van der Stap previously received a four-year suspended sentence for data theft and extortion and was released in December 2025.
D’CENT wallet hack spreads from XRP to Bitcoin and Ethereum Hackers have drained more than 12.4 million XRP from over 7,000 D’CENT wallets and also stole assets on Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tron and Stellar after compromising recovery phrases for the multi-chain wallet. IoTrust, D’CENT’s maker, said it has confirmed at least 110 abnormal transfer reports and is urging users who created wallets in its app to generate a new recovery phrase and move all assets immediately.
Sixth Circuit hands Tennessee win over Kalshi in sports market fight A federal appeals court lifted Kalshi’s preliminary injunction against Tennessee, ruling its sports-event contracts likely are not “swaps” under the Commodity Exchange Act and that federal commodities law does not block the state from enforcing its gambling laws. The decision deepens an appellate split, with the Sixth and Ninth Circuits against Kalshi and the Third Circuit backing its preemption argument, increasing the odds of a Supreme Court showdown.
Senate Democrats say sanctioned Iran-linked wallets relied heavily on USDT Democrats on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations found 84% of more than 800 sanctioned Iran-linked crypto wallets used Tether’s USDT exclusively or predominantly, calling it a primary payment tool for Tehran and a token seen in networks funding Iran-backed groups including Hezbollah. The same day, Tether said it helped freeze about $550 million in Iran-linked USDT this year.
ESMA sets 2027 MiCA supervision priorities for crypto firms ESMA said its 2027 MiCA work will center on tougher coordination of national oversight of crypto-asset service providers, with a focus on operational resilience, outsourcing, reverse solicitation, liquidity and whether firms keep sufficient operations inside the EU. Chair Verena Ross said the bloc is moving “from rulemaking towards supervision and convergence,” while ESMA also plans harmonized CASP reporting and the first fully operational phase of its MIDAS market-abuse surveillance system in 2027.
BitMine tops 6 million ETH after another weekly purchase BitMine Immersion Technologies bought 17,362 ETH over the past week, lifting its holdings to 6,001,302 ETH, or about 4.9% of Ethereum’s circulating supply, as it nears its stated goal of owning 5%. The company said 5.06 million ETH is staked, about 84% of its holdings, and valued its crypto, cash, securities and other investments at $17.2 billion.
Franklin Templeton brings tokenized money market fund to Bybit Franklin Templeton has expanded its tokenized money market setup to Bybit, allowing eligible institutional clients to use BENJI shares of its Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund as off-exchange collateral for USDT or USDC trading credit lines. The fund held about $686.64 million in net assets as of Aug. 31, and clients keep the underlying assets in off-exchange custody while Bybit mirrors their value for trading, letting them continue earning the fund’s yield.
Strategy buys 1,665 BTC, lifting holdings to 847,666 Strategy said it bought 1,665 BTC over the past week at an average price of $85,681, marking its second consecutive weekly purchase after a three-week pause. Michael Saylor said the company now holds 847,666 BTC acquired for nearly $64 billion; it also repurchased $152 million of STRC and held $6.02 billion in USD assets as of Sept. 27, 2026.
MEXC says $340K account theft dispute has been resolved MEXC said it has reached an agreement with user Shuang Fei over a reported theft of about $340,000 and considers the case “fully resolved,” without disclosing terms. The user had claimed 322,110 USDT and 9.13 million ONE were withdrawn on Sept. 27 after an attacker-created API allegedly remained usable following account recovery, despite MEXC documentation saying frozen accounts invalidate associated API keys.
FCA opens UK crypto authorisation gateway on Sept. 30 The UK Financial Conduct Authority will open its new crypto authorisation gateway at 7 a.m. UK time on Sept. 30, with firms given until Feb. 28, 2027 to file for FSMA approval before the new regime starts on Oct. 25, 2027. The key consequence is timing: firms with a valid application filed by that deadline may keep serving customers while the FCA decides, but late filers could be restricted to winding down existing contracts only.
Bitget reopens BTC withdrawals after $387.5M hack Bitget resumed Bitcoin withdrawals at 08:00 UTC on Sept. 28, four days after suspending customer withdrawals following a hack that moved about $387.5 million to attacker-controlled addresses. The exchange said attackers exploited a third-party security product to obtain credentials and forge withdrawal commands, and that the vulnerability has been fixed with no further unauthorized transfers detected. ETH withdrawals are scheduled for Sept. 29 and USDT on Sept. 30, while Mandiant and SlowMist assist the investigation.
Fake Giwa L2 scam drains 766 ETH from 1,335 users Threat actors launched a fake L2 chain impersonating Giwa and convinced users to bridge funds after DYORSWAP identified it as the project’s mainnet. About 766.25 ETH, worth more than $2 million, was drained from 1,335 addresses; Giwa later said it had not launched a mainnet, while DYORSWAP said it has begun reimbursing affected users and has already paid out more than 200 ETH from its own funds.
South Korea weighs crypto market-making after JPYC surge on Upbit South Korea’s Financial Services Commission said it is reviewing whether to allow market-making in digital assets after yen-backed stablecoin JPYC jumped from 12 won to 37.6 won on Upbit within an hour of its Sept. 17 listing, reportedly due to thin liquidity. The FSC said current rules under the Virtual Asset User Protection Act effectively bar market makers by not exempting them from market-manipulation provisions.
Armada II vote could clear Evernorth’s Nasdaq listing as XRPN Armada Acquisition Corp. II shareholders are due to vote on Sept. 30 on Evernorth’s business combination, the final major hurdle before the XRP-focused treasury company can list on Nasdaq under the ticker XRPN. Evernorth says it holds about 473 million XRP, and a previously announced $30 million 4% convertible senior PIK note financing would become available only if the merger closes.
California bans public officials from issuing meme coins Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 2409, barring California state and local officials — and some government employees with contract authority — from issuing meme coins. Starting Jan. 1, 2027, digital asset service providers also cannot list newly issued meme coins offered by, or in partnership with, federal or California officials; enforcers can seek injunctions and disgorgement in civil court.
Zano rolls back blockchain by about a month after Gateway Addresses flaw Zano has restarted its blockchain at block 3,833,000, reversing roughly a month of history after a vulnerability tied to Gateway Addresses let unauthorized ZANO and Freedom Dollar enter circulation. The rollback wipes both the illicit tokens and legitimate transactions from that period, while payments already settled on other blockchains cannot be reversed; the team said nodes, miners, stakers, exchanges and other services must adopt the update and that a reimbursement and claims process is being prepared.
California shuts Nano Banc; FDIC brokers transfer to Sunwest California regulators closed Irvine-based Nano Banc on Friday and appointed the FDIC as receiver after the bank’s tangible equity fell to about $5.6 million, or 0.82% of assets, below the 3% statutory floor. Sunwest Bank will assume substantially all deposits and buy about $476 million of assets; Nano Banc had $736 million in assets and $686 million in deposits as of June 30. The FDIC estimates the failure will cost its insurance fund about $114 million.
Zano restarts chain after inflation bug, erasing one month of history Zano said it has already restarted the blockchain from block height 3,833,000, just before Hard Fork 6, to contain an inflation bug tied to Gateway Addresses that enabled unauthorized issuance of ZANO and fUSD. The move wipes about a month of confirmed transactions; Zano said ordinary transaction privacy and wallet spend keys were not compromised, and Freedom Dollar said it absorbed several million dollars in losses from counterfeit fUSD.
SEC staff says token buybacks on functional networks don’t make tokens securities The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance said in new FAQs that once a crypto network is functional, announcing a token buyback program does not by itself amount to the “essential managerial efforts” prong of the Howey test. The guidance also says post-launch promises to maintain or grow a functional network likely would not satisfy Howey, while buyback pitches on non-functional networks could still cross the line if marketed as generating yield or returns.
Japan arrests two over fake police crypto scam Japanese police arrested two suspects, aged 31 and 38, over a scheme that allegedly tricked a woman in her 40s into sending about 81 million yen ($515,000) in cryptocurrency after a caller posing as an Osaka Prefectural Police officer told her she had to “prove her innocence” in a supposed money-laundering case. Investigators say related cases tied to the suspects total about 240 million yen and believe the operation was run from Cambodia.
Riot repays Coinbase Credit loan and exits $200M bitcoin-backed facility Riot Platforms said it repaid its outstanding borrowing from Coinbase Credit on Sept. 21 and terminated its fully drawn $200 million credit facility, ending Coinbase’s right to make further loans. The move released the lender’s claims on pledged collateral, which as of June 30 included 5,821 BTC worth about $340.7 million, with no early termination fee or penalty.
Binance buys $100M of Circle stock, renews USDC deal for five years Binance bought $100 million of Circle Class A stock and signed a new five-year commercial agreement to expand USDC distribution, especially in emerging markets, Circle said Sept. 22. The private placement closed Sept. 17 at $80.84 per share, while the renewed deal replaces earlier agreements and gives Circle a bigger Binance channel as it tries to grow USDC against market leader Tether.
Circle Foundation funds UNDP and WFP stablecoin aid payment pilots Circle Foundation has announced grants for digital-payment projects at the UN Development Programme and World Food Programme to test whether regulated payment stablecoins can make aid delivery faster, cheaper and more transparent. WFP plans to evaluate two to three payment corridors over the next three years, while UNDP will set up a Digital Asset Innovation Pool to scale earlier pilots within regulatory and local financial systems.
Lido Vote #214 activates Dual Governance on Ethereum mainnet Lido DAO’s onchain Vote #214 passed with 58.2 million LDO in favor, implementing Dual Governance V1 parameters on Ethereum mainnet. The change gives stETH holders a mechanism to contest or delay certain governance actions before execution, adding a check on LDO-based voting, and also extends the emergency governance delay window to 14 days.
Magic Eden warns legacy approvals exposed $5.7M in NFTs to exploit Magic Eden said old approvals from its now-closed EVM marketplace left more than $5.7 million worth of NFTs exposed to a vulnerability in Limit Break’s Payment Processor V2 after the contract was exploited this week. A whitehat operation rescued 23,155 NFTs, while Magic Eden said no active listings on its current products were affected and urged past EVM users to revoke Payment Processor V2 approvals on Ethereum, Polygon and Base.
Mantle says tokenized assets on its network jumped to 1,473 Mantle says the number of tokenized assets on its network has risen to 1,473 from 71 at the start of 2026, while Distributed Asset Value reached about $476.1 million, up roughly 110% over the past 30 days. The network said the growth spans tokenized stocks, ETFs, regulated stablecoins and yield-bearing assets, with xStocks, Securitize, Ethena and Paxos among the issuers and infrastructure providers.
Solana activates Alpenglow on devnet after public testnet rollout Solana’s Alpenglow consensus upgrade went live on public testnet on Sept. 24 and devnet on Sept. 25, replacing TowerBFT with Votor and targeting transaction finality of 100 to 150 milliseconds. Anza said the shift moves validator voting offchain into BLS certificates, but the speed target is still unproven on mainnet, and Firedancer and Frankendancer have not yet implemented Votor.
US charges Vietnamese national in alleged $53.3M crypto pig-butchering laundering case US prosecutors charged Trung Nguyen Van, 37, with two money-laundering counts, alleging wallets he controlled received about $53.3 million tied to pig-butchering fraud and sent roughly $53.2 million onward. The case began after one US victim allegedly sent about $16 million in summer 2024 to a fake crypto platform called Triangle and was later unable to withdraw funds.
KelpDAO files lawsuit against LayerZero over $292M rsETH exploit Evercrest Technologies, the company behind KelpDAO, has filed a civil claim in the Supreme Court of British Columbia against LayerZero Labs Ltd., LayerZero Labs Canada Inc. and co-founder Bryan Pellegrino over the April exploit that drained 116,500 rsETH, worth about $292 million at the time. Evercrest alleges LayerZero reviewed and endorsed a 1-of-1 DVN bridge setup later blamed for the attack; the claims have not been proven in court, and LayerZero has not been found liable.
CleanSpark closes $2.276 billion senior secured notes sale CleanSpark said late Sept. 25 that it has completed the closing of $2.276 billion in senior secured notes, turning a proposed raise into cash on hand. The Bitcoin miner said the proceeds will help expand its data-center infrastructure and refinance existing credit facilities, marking one of the year’s largest financings for a publicly traded mining company.
US regulators move to write crypto rules after Clarity Act stalls After the Senate failed to advance the Clarity Act in a 49-50 vote, the SEC, CFTC and Federal Reserve moved within days to shape crypto policy through existing powers. SEC Chair Paul Atkins unveiled an innovation exemption for some on-chain trading of tokenized US stocks, the CFTC issued crypto-related relief and sent a broader rulemaking to the White House, while the Fed proposed stablecoin reserve and capital rules.
Kazakhstan approves flared gas power for crypto mining President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a July decree allowing oil producers to use otherwise flared gas for off-grid electricity generation for digital mining, if the resources are not needed for state purposes. The order also proposes a tax exemption for regulated crypto income and infrastructure for stablecoin-based cross-border settlements, as Astana pitches itself as a hub for global capital and expertise.
Ripple, Securitize launch RLUSD off-ramp for BUIDL and VBILL Ripple and Securitize said they have launched a smart contract that lets holders of BlackRock’s BUIDL and VanEck’s VBILL instantly exchange shares for Ripple’s stablecoin RLUSD 24/7, marking RLUSD’s first integration with Securitize’s platform. The companies said the setup is aimed at expanding on-chain liquidity and utility for tokenized treasury funds, with Securitize also planning an XRP Ledger integration.
Grayscale files biweekly income Zcash ETF with SEC Grayscale filed with the SEC on Sept. 25 for the ZCSH High Income ETF, a Zcash-linked fund that would pay shareholders every two weeks by selling options tied to its existing spot Zcash ETF rather than holding ZEC directly. The filing says the strategy caps upside, keeps downside exposure, offers no set yield, and could return investors’ own capital; it could take effect in about 75 days, in early December.
CFTC sues Cash FX Group over alleged $950M crypto-linked forex Ponzi The CFTC has filed suit against Cash FX Group, CEO Huascar Jose Lopez Castillo, The Conversion Pros and CEO Ronald Pope, and Justin Halladay, alleging they raised more than $950 million in a multilevel marketing scheme tied to retail forex trading and crypto. The agency says Cash FX did little actual forex trading, misappropriated most funds, used new deposits to pay fake profits, and left participants with at least $406 million in losses.
US spot Bitcoin ETFs extend inflow streak to seven sessions U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs brought in a net $134.47 million on Sept. 25, marking a seventh straight trading day of inflows since Sept. 17, SoSoValue data showed. BlackRock’s IBIT led with $96.99 million and Fidelity’s FBTC added $49.32 million, while Bitwise’s BITB saw $11.85 million in outflows. The products have attracted about $2.98 billion over the seven-session streak.
Scottish inmate admitted directing gang to target $2.6M in crypto Prosecutors in Edinburgh said Robert Barr, who was jailed at HMP Edinburgh, used an illicit phone to direct home invasion attempts against a local crypto entrepreneur between January and April 2024, targeting holdings he believed were worth more than $2.6 million. Barr pleaded guilty to involvement in serious organized crime, and accomplice Sean Favier also admitted attempting robbery at the Midlothian home.
U.S. charges Vietnamese man in $53.3M pig-butchering crypto laundering case U.S. federal prosecutors in Missouri charged Trung Nguyen Van, 37, with two money-laundering counts tied to a pig-butchering crypto scam, after his initial court appearance in Los Angeles. Investigators say one victim sent about $16 million to the fake “Triangle” platform in June-August 2024, with more than $569,000 traced to Van’s wallet, and that his wallets received an estimated $53.3 million linked to wire-fraud schemes from 2018 to 2024.
Fed proposes two GENIUS Act rules for stablecoin issuers and banks The Federal Reserve has opened public comment on two proposed rules under the GENIUS Act: one would require Fed-supervised payment stablecoin issuers to fully back tokens with approved reserves such as short-term US Treasuries and other high-quality liquid assets, while imposing capital and risk-management standards; the other would set application rules for supervised banks seeking to issue stablecoins. Comments are due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.
Coinbase asks IRS to let Trump Accounts invest in crypto Coinbase said it has asked the IRS to expand Trump Accounts so the children’s asset-building accounts can hold digital assets and crypto-focused funds, instead of being limited to low-cost US stock index funds under draft rules released last month. The exchange said the investment menu should be broadened to match what traditional IRAs can hold.
SEC says liquid staking tokens and token buybacks generally aren’t securities The SEC said major crypto activities on functioning networks, including liquid staking tokens, token buybacks, and post-launch network maintenance, generally do not fall under U.S. securities laws. In new interpretive guidance, the agency said buybacks alone do not create an investment contract under the Howey test, but they could if paired with promotion of future price gains or returns.
Circle’s Patrick Hansen warns German crypto tax proposal could overtax retail users Circle’s Patrick Hansen criticized a draft German Finance Ministry crypto tax reform that would apply a 50% substitute assessment when taxpayers cannot provide credible purchase records for their crypto holdings. In that case, tax would be calculated on 50% of sale proceeds, a rule Hansen said could hit less crypto-savvy retail investors hardest, while tax lawyer David Hötzel noted the measure is not final but could create significant liquidity risks.
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce to step down on Oct. 2 Hester Peirce, who has led the SEC’s crypto task force since the start of President Donald Trump’s administration, said in a Sept. 25 resignation letter that she will leave the agency when her term ends on Oct. 2. Peirce helped define the SEC’s stance on staking, mining and memecoins and advanced the “Innovation Exemption,” a five-year framework for testing tokenized securities, while her exit leaves the commission with only Chair Paul Atkins and Mark Uyeda and could slow policy decisions.
DOJ moves to seize $84.2M linked to Capstone and EQIBank US federal prosecutors filed a civil forfeiture complaint to seize $84.2 million tied to Montana payments firm Capstone Ltd. and Dominica-based EQIBank, alleging Capstone ran an unlicensed money-transmitting business in at least six states while presenting itself to banks as an IT services company. The funds include $79.11 million at Wells Fargo Securities, $2.06 million at JPMorgan, $1.86 million in another Wells Fargo account and about $1.1 million in USDT wallets; Capstone and EQIBank deny wrongdoing and have filed innocent-owner defenses.
Zano plans 24-hour blockchain rollback after inflation bug Privacy-focused blockchain Zano said an inflation bug tied to Gateway Addresses will force a rollback of roughly 24 hours of chain history, potentially wiping legitimate transactions along with unauthorized asset creation. The team told users on X and Telegram to stop activity involving ZANO and Confidential Assets and said it plans to reimburse losses, but it has not yet published the exploit details, rollback height, or the amount created.
Kamino opens tGBP lending market on Solana Kamino has launched a lending market for tGBP, a British pound stablecoin issued by BCP Technologies, letting users supply the token or borrow sterling-denominated liquidity against collateral including USDC, cbBTC and JitoSOL. The market, curated by Steakhouse Financial, brings GBP-denominated credit to Solana and offers an alternative to borrowing in dollar stablecoins.
