Sep 21 Monday
Ethereum's native token has outperformed Solana, Base, and Robinhood for the first time in 10 months. This performance comes amid AI sector dominance and microcaps surging past $80 billion.
Circle has introduced a new service that enables institutional clients to borrow USDC using their Bitcoin holdings as collateral. This allows clients to access liquidity without selling their Bitcoin.
The SEC's Innovation Exemption enables new liquidity venues for real shares, according to Securitize. It reinforces issuer roles and excludes synthetic price exposure.
The Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Russia stated that the country's crypto industry may meet the conditions for legal operation by the end of the year, with secondary regulations expected to be finalized by the end of 2026. President Putin signed a law in August establishing a framework for digital currency management, while the central bank has approved public trading of Bitcoin on domestic exchanges and Sberbank plans to launch crypto wallet and custody services in December.
Bitcoin crossed the $86,000 mark for the first time since late January, driven by falling oil prices and supply concerns that also lifted US stocks. Analysts suggest the cryptocurrency is entering a new bull market.
Marc van der Chijs, Co-Founder of Hut 8, told CoinDesk that control over artificial intelligence has been lost. He warned that competition among companies and nations could trigger shocks to the banking and infrastructure sectors.
Bitcoin's $4,340 gain led to $1.08B in liquidations, with shorts comprising 55%. BTC accounted for $747.3M and ETH $175.15M, totaling 85%.
A report by Glassnode and Bybit reveals that Bitcoin has risen 28% over the past two years, while the median mid-cap altcoin has dropped 74%. The data highlights the divergent performance between Bitcoin and mid-cap altcoins.
Anna, a 150 KB program on the Qubic network, learned addition with zero error on a single core without internet or pretrained data. However, its ability to extrapolate and achieve artificial general intelligence remains untested.
GMGN has launched the public beta of its perpetual trading product, supporting markets such as BTC/USDC, ETH/USDC, SNDK/USDC, SOL/USDC, and ZEC/USDC. The platform offers liquidity from third-party market makers, taker fees of 0.045%, maker fees of 0.015%, a 3.5% annualized return on account funds, and plans for promotional trading credits.
Glassnode reports that as Bitcoin reached $86,000, long leverage in the options market is slowly rebuilding, with the open interest put/call ratio rising. However, this remains well below the overheated levels seen near Bitcoin's top, and perpetual contract speculation stays subdued with funding rates below neutral.
Huang Licheng is continuously taking profits on his BTC and ETH long positions. He currently holds a 25x leveraged long on 31,000 ETH with an average entry of $2,578.19 and unrealized gains of $5.01 million, a 40x leveraged long on 296 BTC with an average entry of $82,038.4 and unrealized gains of $1.14 million, and a 40x leveraged long on 90,000 HYPE with an average entry of $92.78 and unrealized gains of $115,000.
Predict.fun, a prediction market platform, has launched a market for predicting Polymarket's closing market capitalization on its IPO first day. The announcement was made via the platform's official channels.
The CLARITY Act has stalled, drawing scrutiny to Coinbase. Meanwhile, the SEC is moving forward with tokenized stocks, and crypto firms are expanding into payments.
The Zcash Foundation stated it was previously unaware of the ZRC-20 and CASH tokens, which are a third-party private project and not an official Zcash token standard or protocol feature. The foundation advises users to conduct their own thorough research before interacting with any tokens.
B.AI announced the launch of Moonshot AI's Kimi K2.8 Preview, offering developers API and Web Chat access. The model supports a 1M-token context, multimodal inputs, and adjustable reasoning levels, with performance approaching the flagship Kimi K3.
According to Gate market data, BTC/USDT is currently trading at $86,000. The cryptocurrency has recorded a 24-hour gain of 6.68%.
Ondo announced that approved institutions can now mint Ondo Stocks using their existing shares through Alpaca's Instant Tokenization Network. The feature, live on Ethereum and BNB Chain, allows institutions to convert underlying stocks into tokens or redeem tokens back into stocks.
According to Gate market data, spot gold dropped below $4,340 per ounce, marking a 0.9% decline for the day. The price movement was reported by ChainCatcher.
Coinbase announced that eligible US retail investors can request IPO share allocations through its app, beginning with Oura's IPO this week. The service, provided by Coinbase Capital Markets, allows users to request shares at the offering price before public trading, but allocations may be partial or denied, and selling IPO shares within 30 days may result in a 60-day ban from future IPOs.
Analyst Killa announced on X a plan to hedge 50% of Bitcoin exposure by shorting in the $89,000 to $94,000 range, marking the first short in months. The strategy would be invalidated if the price stabilizes above $97,000.
According to data from Token Terminal cited by RWA Foundation and USDD, the decentralized stablecoin USDD experienced strong growth over the past week, with a single-day market cap increase of $12.8 million. This ranks third among stablecoin issuers, behind Ethena ($35.8 million) and StablR ($18.7 million).
Kyle Samani, co-founder of Multicoin Capital, predicted on Cointelegraph's Trade Secrets that Solana will flip Ethereum in market capitalization within this market cycle, stating that no one truly uses Ethereum. He noted that Solana has already surpassed Ethereum in weekly and monthly fees, and expressed pessimism about Ethereum's value capture.
Kyle Samani, co-founder of Multicoin Capital, predicts that Solana (SOL) will surpass Ether's market capitalization in the current market cycle. He also claims that Ethereum is not widely used today.
The Celsius bankruptcy estate filed a lawsuit against BitMEX affiliates in the Southern District of New York on September 12, alleging improper liquidation in March 2020. The suit seeks 6,360.1666 BTC, including 1,325.8385 BTC lost on March 12 and 5,034.3281 BTC received from JST Alpha 1 the next day, while BitMEX plans to cease operations on September 23.
Global listed companies excluding miners recorded a net Bitcoin purchase of $183 million last week, reversing from the previous week's net selling. Strategy bought 950 BTC for about $75.7 million at $79,670 per coin, its first purchase in two weeks, while Strive acquired 1,355 BTC for roughly $108 million and Metaplanet abstained for a tenth consecutive week.
According to Coinglass data, the total liquidation across the network in the past 24 hours reached $790 million, with short positions liquidated at $666 million and long positions at $124 million. Bitcoin short liquidations were $385 million, and Ethereum short liquidations were $158 million, as 118,068 traders were liquidated, the largest single liquidation on Binance BTCUSDT worth $11.29 million.
Gate Voyage held a series of events in Bali, featuring multiple thematic sessions on ecosystem building, globalization, traditional finance, and diversified assets. Nearly 200 global industry guests, partners, and content creators participated, with Gate founder and CEO Dr. Han delivering a video address that reviewed Gate's 13-year development and the milestone of over 60 million users.
Tom Lee, Chairman of Bitmine, stated that the cryptocurrency bull market began at the end of June, driven by capital rotation from AI, strengthening crypto fundamentals, and the end of the four-year cycle. He expects institutional investors to significantly increase crypto exposure in the final quarter of 2026, potentially driving further upside for Ethereum.
Coinbase announced that eligible users can now apply to purchase IPO shares of smart ring maker Oura at the issue price. Users may receive allocations before the stock begins public trading.
Deep Blue Aerospace announced the completion of its B6 and B7 financing rounds, raising a total of nearly 2 billion yuan. The funds will be used for the research, development, and industrialization of the company's two launch vehicle series, including the medium reusable liquid launch vehicle Nebula-1 and the heavy-lift reusable liquid launch vehicle Nebula-2.
Bitmine, the largest Ethereum-focused treasury firm, acquired $75 million worth of ether. Chairman Tom Lee stated that institutions remain underweight crypto and that ether's strong third-quarter performance could prompt increased exposure.
Tim Draper, founder of Draper Associates, stated on the Bitcoin Magazine podcast that government spending will lead to either hyperinflation or high interest rates. He argued that companies like Apple and Meta should hold bitcoin on their balance sheets, recommending businesses keep four weeks of operating expenses in bitcoin and individuals hold six months' worth.
According to DefiLlama data, Gate has recorded a net capital inflow of $353 million over the past month. This places the exchange fourth among centralized exchanges globally in terms of net inflows.
Strategy purchased 950 Bitcoin for $75.7 million after a two-week pause. The company also spent $174 million repurchasing its STRC preferred stock.
Visa directed payment processors to reclassify memecoin purchases, ending a loophole that allowed such transactions to earn card rewards. The change affects Crossmint-powered purchases on platforms like Fomo and Robinhood Wallet.
BIGOD and 4AI will host an AMA on September 23 at 10:00 AM UTC. The discussion will focus on decentralized AI agent marketplaces and Web3.
Citizens analysts predict Robinhood will rapidly adjust its tokenized equity offering to the SEC's new US framework. They cite strong offshore traction and the company's Robinhood Chain as key factors.
Liquid Capital founder Yi Lihua stated on X that July and August represent the final buying window, with the third wave of declines since October 11 being the last drop. He emphasized that while the exact bottom is unpredictable due to black swan events, cycle timing and volatility patterns remain reliable, so investors should not fixate on the lowest price.
Bitmine (BMNR), the largest Ethereum treasury company, acquired 27,562 ETH in the past week, bringing its total holdings to 5,983,940 ETH as of September 20. This represents 4.9% of the total ETH supply, reaching approximately 98% of its 5% accumulation target, with 5,067,309 ETH staked and valued at about $13.6 billion.
Epoch 2 of the Kaia Chain CR Mission ended at block 227,750,400 on September 21, 2026. Reward claims will open on October 6, with rewards paid in KAIA.
Orderly Network has launched its Season 4 community campaign, offering USDC rewards, exclusive roles, and future boosts. The campaign includes social activities, game nights, and challenges on Discord and X.
Bitcoin reached $85,000, setting a new all-time high. The milestone occurred amid ongoing market volatility.
Michael Saylor, Executive Chairman of MicroStrategy, labeled Bitcoin a $1.6 trillion success. This came after Jason Calacanis, an angel investor, said Bitcoin is boring and has missed mass adoption.
Unity Wallet is hosting a giveaway of $300 in USDT and UNT to three winners who share tips on simplifying crypto use. Entries close on September 27, and winners will be announced on September 28.
Zamica has launched an airdrop featuring a pool of 4,080 ZAMIC tokens. Participants can enter through the app by connecting their wallet and submitting their registered email, with 60 random winners to be drawn on October 14.
BloFin Futures will list TEAM-USDT, HUT-USDT, and OKLO-USDT perpetual contracts. The listing includes 0% maker fees and a 50% discount on taker fees.
Goldman Sachs states that Coinbase could benefit in custody, tokenization, and USDC settlement under the SEC's tokenized-stock framework. The SEC's framework is expected to provide advantages for Coinbase in these areas.
Websea will launch perpetual trading for $GSTOCKBSC on September 21, 2026, at 09:00 UTC. The contract will offer long and short positions with flexible leverage.
Bitcoin broke above $84,000 as cryptocurrency momentum accelerated. Ethereum climbed about 3% alongside the broader market move.
Circle has launched Digital Asset Backed Borrowing (DABB) on Arc and Ethereum for eligible Circle Mint institutional clients. Clients can deposit Bitcoin, mint cirBTC, supply it as collateral to third-party lending markets, and receive USDC directly in their Circle Mint account without selling their Bitcoin.
Bitget has launched 470 new stock rTokens, including rMANU (Manchester United), rKC (Kingsoft Cloud), and various ETFs, bringing its total to 2,139. These rTokens, issued by Bitget's licensed RWA protocol Reality in partnership with Alpaca, offer 1:1 asset backing, dividend distribution, and can be used as collateral for unified accounts and U-margined contracts.
On-chain data shows that at 20:14 Beijing time, USDC Treasury minted an additional 250 million USDC on the Solana network. The minting was conducted by Circle.
Michael Saylor posted on X that under assumptions of 10% annual bitcoin yield, 40% bitcoin volatility, and a bitcoin price of $81,200, the dollar duration is 3.8 years and the STRC bitcoin credit spread is 53 basis points. The disclosure provides specific metrics related to STRC's bitcoin-linked credit performance.
Strategy acquired an additional 950 BTC and repurchased $174 million of STRC preferred stock. As of September 20, the company held 846,000 BTC and approximately $6.09 billion in USD assets. Previously, holdings were 845,050 BTC at an average price of $75,412, with total cost about $63.73 billion. During a market downturn, unrealized losses on Bitcoin holdings exceeded $10 billion. Separately, Strive CEO Matt Cole said the company acquired 1,355 BTC for $107.7 million at an average price of $79,475, bringing total holdings to 26,355 BTC. Strive began accepting warrant exercises last week and received $21.2 million in gross proceeds, with SATA accounting for 57.7% of total capital raised.
Strategy has resumed its bitcoin acquisition strategy after a three-week pause, purchasing $75 million worth of BTC last week. This marks the company's first bitcoin purchase in about three weeks.
Boyaa Interactive (00434.HK) purchased approximately 152 Bitcoin for about HK$90.63 million (US$11.56 million) at an average price of US$75,899 per coin. The company now holds a total of 4,468 Bitcoin at an average cost of US$68,543, intended to support its Web3 business transformation, including public chain staking, cross-chain bridges, and Web3 game projects such as Pet Land and MTT Sports.
Bitcoin surged 44% in the third quarter, its best quarterly performance since Q1 2021. The rally has sparked speculation of a broader cryptocurrency bull market.
Bitcoin BLAKE2b developers plan to impose a 45-day waiting period for miners to unlock newly mined tokens, with the change intended at block height 973440. The chain's native token BTCB2 has fallen 84% from its September high of $1,799 and is not listed on most exchanges or CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap.
The BVIV index perpetual contracts, often called the 'Bitcoin VIX,' began trading on Hyperliquid on Monday, allowing traders to bet on the magnitude of Bitcoin price swings rather than direction. The contracts use USDC as collateral and offer up to 5x leverage, with Seda oracle infrastructure connecting Volmex indices to the Markets exchange.
Hyperliquid has launched perpetual futures linked to the BVIV, a 30-day bitcoin volatility index, through Kinetiq's Markets frontend. The product, led by Volmex CEO Cole Kennelly, allows traders to take long or short positions on bitcoin volatility.
Binance Wallet announced the launch of pPOLY, a token issued by Paimon Finance, as its first Pre-Access project offered through PancakeSwap. The token sale on BNB Smart Chain runs from September 21 to September 24, 2026, with a price of $15.5 and a total raise of $4.8 million, and subscription limits are determined by Alpha Points tier and bStocks on-chain activity.
According to Lookonchain monitoring, four addresses that had been inactive for over two years deposited 48,000 ETH, worth $131 million, into Bitfinex. The deposits were made by addresses that had not transacted in more than two years.
NEAR's token price jumped nearly 80% over the past week. The surge coincided with NEAR Intents reaching $29.3 billion in cumulative volume and the expansion of privacy features for traders, including swaps involving Zcash.
Feixiaohao and AtlasX Protocol are organizing the GWDC 2026 Innovation Forum, scheduled for September 29, 2026, at AT CENTER in Seoul, South Korea. The event will focus on stock tokenization, Web3, and AI leadership, with AtlasX Protocol as co-organizer and its Global Strategy Officer Xiaoqi speaking on AI event tracking and community collaboration.
During the weekend closure of traditional markets, perpetual contract prices for crypto-related stocks indicated pre-market gains. Strategy (MSTR) rose 5.78% to $162.81, while Coinbase, Circle, Robinhood, and other tech stocks also saw increases.
An attacker exploited a signature verification bypass in the Kasplex KRC-20 off-chain indexer to transfer 186 million ZEAL and 54.398 billion NACHO without the bridge custody wallet's private key. The affected liquidity pools on Zealous Swap suffered KAS-side value losses of 94% to 99.6%, prompting Igra to suspend iKAS exits to Kaspa L1 and Hyperlane transfers.
Bitget has launched the 14th CFD Championship with a total prize pool of 75,000 USDT, running from September 21 to September 28. Participants can complete trading tasks to earn blind box draws, invite new users for rewards, and compete for a share of the prize pool based on trading volume rankings.
According to Coinglass data, if Bitcoin falls below $80,244, the cumulative long liquidation intensity on major centralized exchanges would reach $2.058 billion. Conversely, a breakout above $88,587 would result in cumulative short liquidations of $525 million.
Indian refiners are seeking crude oil supplies for November delivery. Due to a sanctions bill signed by the United States last week, India, the world's third-largest crude buyer, may reduce its imports of Russian crude, which currently account for more than half of its total imports.
Bitcoin reached $85,000, triggering a short squeeze that liquidated $648 million in bearish bets. Open interest rose 7.59% to $156 billion, indicating traders are chasing the rally rather than exiting positions.
Bitcoin reached $85,000 for the first time since January, nearing an eight-month high. The price movement coincided with market attention on cooling oil prices.
The European Central Bank has launched the Pontes service, connecting its payment systems to blockchain-based financial markets. This allows banks and investors to settle on-chain transactions using ECB-backed euros, with initial participants including Deutsche Bank, Santander, and Clearstream, operating on weekdays from 8:00 to 16:00 CET.
X has filed a lawsuit against Vivek Kumar Sen and Zmyang Sherpa, accusing them of operating fake bitcoin headline accounts to fraudulently earn creator rewards. The platform alleges the users ran a bot farm that posted misleading cryptocurrency news to generate engagement.
Four masked men broke into a home in northern France early Sunday, tying up a couple and their two children for over three hours. The 40-year-old father, an IT specialist in the crypto industry, was beaten and forced to hand over access codes, resulting in the theft of about 40,000 euros ($46,000) in cryptocurrency.