🧠 Brain-Computer Interfaces, Vanguard’s Crypto ETF Shift, XRP Lending

Good Afternoon,

From OpenAI’s benchmark breakthrough and Ripple’s bold uncollateralized lending plans, to Vanguard’s crypto ETF shift, SWIFT’s blockchain play with Consensys, and growing fears of a U.S. government shutdown stalling crypto regulation. Plus: brain-computer tech heats up, and 18 of 30 Bitcoin bull market top indicators are flashing caution.

Let’s unpack this and more!

News Roundup

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

• OpenAI Benchmark Shows AI Nearing Human-Level Job Performance (Decrypt)

• Gemini Robotics 1.5 and Gemini-ER 1.5 Bring AI-Powered Reasoning to Real-World Robots (Google DeepMind)

• LLM Agents Display Unexpected Self-Directed Behaviors in Autonomous Settings (arXiv)

Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

• Plasma Hits $4B in DeFi Deposits on Day One With XPL Rewards (DLNews)

• Hyperliquid Launched Permissionless Spot Quote Assets on Mainnet (X)

• Ripple Plans Uncollateralized Lending Market for XRP Holders, Raising Risk-Reward Debate (DLNews)

• Record $18B Bitcoin Options Expiry Raises Concerns of Delayed Volatility (Decrypt)

• UK Banks Launch Pilot for Tokenized Sterling Deposits (UK Finance)

• Circle Introduces On-Chain Refunds on Arc Blockchain to Woo Institutions (FinanceFeeds)

• Hyperdrive Suffers $782K Exploit in Third Major Hyperliquid Security Breach (X)

• Aster Climbs to Second of Global Fee Rankings in the Past 24 Hours, per DeFiLlama (DeFiLlama)

• HumidiFi Becomes Largest DEX on Solana With $8.5B Weekly Volume (DeFiLlama)

• Qatar’s QNB Group Taps JPMorgan’s Blockchain for Faster Dollar Payments (Bloomberg)

• Binance to List Swarm Network (TRUTH) on Alpha and Futures With 50x Leverage (Binance)

• FalconX Launches 24/7 OTC Crypto Options Platform With BTC, ETH, SOL, and HYPE (The Block)

• Yearn Finance Plans Major Revamp, Proposes 90% Revenue Share for YFI Stakers (DL News)

Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs)

• Major Asset Managers File Updated Solana ETF Applications with Staking Features (X)

• On September 26, all 12 U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $418 million in net outflows, while U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs saw $248 million in outflows for the fifth consecutive day.

• Vanguard May Allow Crypto ETF Access Amid Client Demand (The Block)

• Bitcoin ETFs Record $902M Outflows as Quarter-End Rebalancing Halts Winning Streak (Decrypt)

• October Dubbed ‘ETF Month’ as SEC Faces 16 Crypto Fund Deadlines (Cointelegraph)

Infrastructure

• Jump’s Firedancer Team Pushes for Uncapped Solana Blocks Post-Alpenglow (The Block)

• Swift Partners With Consensys to Build Blockchain Ledger for Cross-Border Payments (Business Wire)

• Binance Unveils Crypto-as-a-Service for Financial Institutions (PR Newswire)

Meme Coins

• Meme Coin Based on Baby Shark IP Crashes After Legal Threats (X)

• ‘Trillions’ Meme Coin Rockets on Plasma, Hits $60M Before Sharp Drop (Decrypt)

• Meme Coin Launchpad Volumes Dip Below $1B as Traders Flock to Perps (Decrypt)

Mining

• Bitcoin miner TeraWulf Seeks $3B in Google-Backed Data Center Funding via Morgan Stanley (Cointelegraph)

• Five Solo Bitcoin Miners Defy Odds, Each Earning Over $350K in 2025 (Cointelegraph)

Politics

• NYC Mayor Eric Adams Ends Reelection Bid Amid Funding Struggles (X)

• US Government Shutdown Threatens to Delay Crypto Legislation (Coin Desk)

• NY’s Top Crypto Regulator Adrienne Harris Steps Down After 4 Years (The Block)

• Poland Pushes Strict Crypto Bill Despite Backlash (Cointelegraph)

• Telegram’s Durov Accuses France of Pushing Election Censorship in Moldova (Decrypt)

Treasuries

• Strategy Boosts Bitcoin Holdings to 640,031 BTC With $22.1M Purchase (Strategy)

• BitMine Becomes Largest Corporate Ethereum Holder With 2.65 million ETH (The Block)

Venture Capital (VC)

• Theta Capital Seeks $200M for Blockchain Fund-of-Funds (Bloomberg)

• Kraken Eyes $20B Valuation Ahead of IPO with Strategic Funding Round (Bloomberg)

• Billionaires Eye Brain-Computer Interfaces as the Next Tech Battleground (Decrypt)

Other News

• Tennessee Couple Fined $6.8M for Crypto Scam Disguised as ‘Blessings of God’ (Decrypt)

• $28K Crypto Offer for Breaking Kickflip World Record (X)

• Bitcoin Losing Its Spot as Retail’s First Crypto Stop (CoinGecko)

• Caltech Unveils Record-Breaking 6,100-Qubit Neutral-Atom Quantum Computer (Caltech)

• Researchers Create Light-Powered Microscopic Gear Systems in Nano-Engineering Breakthrough (Nature)

• More than $773M in Token Unlocks Set to Hit Markets This Week (Tokenomist)

• Singapore and UAE Crowned World’s Most Crypto-Obsessed Nations, per ApeX report (Cointelegraph)

• Sonic Labs Appoints Mitchell Demeter as CEO to Lead Institutional Expansion (Sonic Labs)

• Judge Allows PleasrDAO to Sue Shkreli Over Wu-Tang Album Copies (Court Listener)

• Binance Launches OpenEden (EDEN) as 47th HODLer Airdrops Project (Binance)

• Upbit Lists Falcon Finance (FF) With KRW and USDT Trading Pairs (Upbit)

• 18 of 30 Bitcoin bull market top indicators are past 50% toward sell levels (The Defiant)

• Hyper Foundation Launches Hypurr NFTs on HyperEVM (The Block)

Check This Out

Notable Web3 wallets have announced potential plans to issue tokens and CryptoRank compares them:

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