Crypto News & Deals

Binance hacked for $6.3 billion, the largest crypto theft on record; withdrawals paused

Hot wallets on ten blockchains were drained on October 29, including 18,270 BTC; analysts link the attack to North Korea's TraderTraitor group. Binance says it will cover all losses from SAFU and company funds and that user funds are safe; about $3 billion is frozen. Withdrawals are paused; Binance targets a phased restart from about 05:30 UTC on November 1 and full proof of reserves before November 2. Ignore anyone offering "recovery" or "compensation".

Sources: Binance statements, TRM Labs, CoinDesk, Forbes. Not financial advice.

Bitcoin week in review (Oct 19–25): −2.4% to $80,100 as a midweek bounce to $84,900 fades

Price: BTC opened the week at about $82,000 and closed Sunday at about $80,100 (−2.4%). It climbed to a weekly high of about $84,900 on Wednesday, October 21, then gave the gain back; the low of about $79,100 came on Saturday, October 24, a little under the October 15 low. Context: Sunday's close was the lowest daily close in three weeks; daily closes since October 5 have ranged between about $80,100 and $85,800, so the market is drifting lower inside a still-narrow band. For anyone buying monthly, this is the kind of week a fixed plan is built for — no change needed.

Week ahead: US Federal Reserve rate decision on October 28 (FOMC meeting October 27–28); US midterm elections on November 3. Prices: Crypto.com Exchange BTC/USD daily candles (UTC). Not financial advice.

US stablecoin rulebook: OCC issues the first final GENIUS Act rule, effective January 18, 2027

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency finalised rules on reserves, redemption, custody and capital for the stablecoin issuers it supervises; they apply from January 18, 2027, with anti-money-laundering rules still to come from the Treasury. Issuers stay barred from paying interest for simply holding a token. Rewards that exchanges pay on stablecoins got no safe harbor: the OCC will judge each program on its facts, so those rates may change next year.

Sources: OCC Bulletin 2026-50, American Banker, The Block. Not financial advice.

JPMorgan models bitcoin for the first time: 10% a year base case, with a −9.7% bear case

JPMorgan Asset Management's 2027 Long-Term Capital Market Assumptions give bitcoin a 10-year base case of 10% a year, against 7.5% for US large-cap stocks, 5.6–6.6% for US bonds and 5.5% for gold. The same report gives a bear case of −9.7% a year and a bull case of 17%, calls bitcoin speculative, and names its volatility as the main obstacle to wider portfolio use. A range that wide is the honest part: size positions so the bear case would not hurt you.

Source: CoinDesk report on JPMorgan Asset Management LTCMA 2027. Forecasts are not guarantees. Not financial advice.

Bitcoin week in review (Oct 12–18): −2.0% to $82,000 as spot ETFs lose another $229M

Price: BTC opened the week at about $83,700 and closed Sunday at about $82,000 (−2.0%), in a range of roughly $79,700–$84,300; the low came on October 15, the first dip below $80,000 since September 18. ETFs: US spot bitcoin ETFs had net outflows of about $229M for October 12–16 (SoSoValue: $228.6M; Farside: $228.4M), led by BlackRock's IBIT (about $165M out) — roughly $910M out over two weeks. Context: still a narrow market: daily closes have stayed between about $81,400 and $86,500 for three weeks. For anyone buying monthly, nothing in this range calls for a change of plan.

Week ahead: the SEC comment period on its crypto asset rules closed on October 20; next fixed date is the November 3 US midterms. Prices: Crypto.com Exchange BTC/USD daily candles (UTC). Not financial advice.

SEC closes comments on its crypto rules after 140 submissions; White House CLARITY negotiator Patrick Witt steps down

The 60-day comment window on the SEC's Regulation Crypto Assets proposal closed on October 20, with most comments on the safe harbor for token issuers and exemptions for small offerings; a final rule has no date yet. Patrick Witt, executive director of the White House Crypto Council and its lead adviser on CLARITY, is leaving for the private sector, with no successor named.

Latvia passes crypto tax reform: tax only when withdrawals exceed deposits, plus a one-time 10% declaration in 2027

Latvia's parliament moved to taxing crypto accounts when withdrawals exceed deposits rather than every trade, and opened a one-time window (April 1 – May 31, 2027) to settle past obligations at 10% of declared assets' value at the end of 2026. Paying taxes in crypto may follow from 2027. Latvian residents should wait for official State Revenue Service guidance.

Mt. Gox pushes its repayment deadline back a year, to October 31, 2027

With court approval, trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi extended the deadline for base, early lump-sum and intermediate repayments. Most creditors with complete paperwork have been paid; the rest have unfinished procedures or payment problems. For the market it means the remaining Mt. Gox coins stay with the trustee for now rather than reaching creditors this month.

Ledger: an organized group planted the implants; sales paused in 7 Asian markets, MediaMarktSaturn pulls Ledger in Europe

Ledger says a criminal group bought genuine devices, fitted implants that read the recovery phrase and send it over LTE via an embedded SIM, and resold them through Southeast Asian channels. Sales are paused in Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Hong Kong; retailers may no longer keep devices on open shelves or resell returns. MediaMarktSaturn removed Ledger products after a customer report — Ledger says no funds were lost there and its European spot checks were clean. Trezor reports no tampered Trezor devices and dropped CryptoBilis as a reseller.

USDC becomes the EU's first "significant" stablecoin — and Visa starts using it for payouts

The European Banking Authority classified USDC as the first significant e-money token under MiCA (out of 45 notified). From November 12 the EBA directly supervises USDC's reserves, own funds, liquidity and redemption plans. A day later Visa moved USDC prefunding for Visa Direct payouts into commercial use. For anyone saving or sending money in stablecoins, it is one more reason to prefer USDC in Europe.

Kraken's parent Payward is buying an EU bank: Lithuania's Saldo Bank

If regulators approve (closing expected in 2027), Kraken would become the first crypto company to own a bank in the EU — with licences in Lithuania, Finland, Sweden and Germany — and could add interest-bearing deposits, loans, cards and euro payments. The price was not disclosed. Nothing changes for Kraken accounts today.

Ledger confirms a hardware implant in wallets sold by reseller CryptoBilis — an estimated $86–95M drained

On October 9 hundreds of wallets were emptied at once; Ledger then confirmed an unauthorized implant in a victim's device and said every confirmed case traces back to CryptoBilis, its reseller in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. The extra chips (in one Ledger Stax, a 4G modem) can read the recovery phrase from the screen — and Ledger's Genuine Check does not detect it. Ledger's own systems and ledger.com sales were not breached. Reports of tampered units bought in Europe are circulating but unconfirmed by Ledger. Bought from CryptoBilis or an unverified seller? Don't set it up; if you already did, move funds to a new device with a new recovery phrase.

Bitcoin week in review (Oct 5–11): −3.3% to $83,700 as spot ETFs see $680M outflows

Price: BTC opened the week at about $86,500 and closed Sunday at about $83,700 (−3.3%), in a range of roughly $80,300–$87,000; the low came on October 8. ETFs: US spot bitcoin ETFs had net outflows of about $680M for October 5–9 (SoSoValue: $681M; Farside: $678.9M), the first outflow week after three weeks of inflows — Fidelity's FBTC led with about $380M out. Context: a quiet, narrow market — BTC has stayed within about $81,700–$86,500 on daily closes for three weeks and is still about 10% above its post-CLARITY-vote low of mid-September. For anyone buying monthly, a flat market is simply a calm one: nothing to do but stick to the plan.

Week ahead: no crypto votes scheduled in Washington. Next dates on our calendar: October 20 (SEC comment deadline) and November 3 (US midterms, which decide CLARITY's lame-duck chances). Prices: Crypto.com Exchange BTC/USD daily candles (UTC). Not financial advice.

CFTC chair: retail crypto margin likely capped near 7x; Rep. Hill eyes the lame-duck session for CLARITY

CFTC Chair Mike Selig said the planned rules would let regulated venues offer margin on spot crypto to US retail, with leverage in line with today's regulated crypto futures (about 7x or less) — far below the leverage offshore exchanges advertise. House Financial Services Chair French Hill said the SEC and CFTC moves "fall short" of a law and wants CLARITY passed in the 22 Senate session days between the November 3 midterms and January. Neither changes anything for EU readers today.

CFTC starts writing crypto market rules without Congress: Regulation CTX and CAM

The CFTC opened a 60-day consultation (an advance notice, not yet a rule) on federal oversight of leveraged, margined or financed retail crypto trading and a new "crypto asset market" exchange category, with proof-of-reserves for pooled customer assets. Ordinary spot exchanges stay under state rules — that gap still needs Congress. For readers in the EU nothing changes; for US users it is the first step toward one national rulebook for crypto margin trading.

Senate returns: the last pre-election window for the CLARITY Act runs to November 6

Fewer than 36 legislative days remain before a new Congress in January 2027, no new vote is scheduled, and the motion to reconsider is still pending. Senator Lummis says the rejected text carried 126 changes Democrats asked for, including $150M for FinCEN; Democrats say the ethics terms still fell short. Markets price 2026 passage in the high teens. Dates to watch: October 20 (SEC comment deadline) and November 3 (midterms).

Kraken Halloween sweepstakes: one winner takes 1,000 SOL — here are the rules that matter

Enroll first in the Kraken app or Kraken Pro, then every $1 of eligible volume (spot on Kraken Pro and Instant Buy) is one entry, up to 1,000,000 per person; trades before enrolling do not count. Futures, margin, stocks, xStocks, bundles and stablecoin conversions are excluded. Open to the EEA, the US (except Maine, New York, Florida and Puerto Rico) and Canada (except Quebec) — not the UK. One winner, drawn within 5 business days after October 31. Our honest take: it is a nice bonus on trades you were going to make anyway, not a reason to trade — at Kraken Pro's entry tier, $1,000 of volume costs $4–8 in fees for 1,000 entries out of what will be many millions.

Fed proposes GENIUS Act stablecoin rules: 1:1 reserves, capital standards, a path for banks to issue

The Federal Reserve is the last major US regulator to set out how it will supervise payment stablecoins: full backing with high-quality liquid assets such as short-term Treasury bills, capital against operational risk, and an application process for banks that want to issue their own. It is a proposal with a 60-day comment period. For anyone saving or sending money home in USDC or USDT, nothing changes today — but US dollar stablecoins are heading the same way MiCA already pushed Europe.

Senate gets its own crypto tax bill: ADAPT Act — stablecoin payments tax-free, $10 fee de minimis, wash-sale rules extended

Sen. Daines' 56-page bill (co-sponsored by Scott, Lummis and Moreno, no Democrats) would stop stablecoin purchases from triggering gains, exempt small fees and consumer transactions from reporting — and close the crypto wash-sale loophole from 2027. Two Republican bills in two chambers is a negotiating position, not a law.

Bitget refills protection fund to $300M+; loss estimates rise to $387.5M as hacker moves ZEC into shielded pool

Bitget met its one-week pledge to replenish the fund (down from the ~$464M quoted before the hack), withdrawals are back progressively, and the attacker is now obscuring Zcash through the Ironwood shielded pool. The formal incident report is still pending.

Bitget hacked for $351.6M — user funds covered by a 5,500 BTC fund, withdrawals reopening gradually

The year's biggest exchange hack: a zero-day in a third-party security product gave the attacker internal credentials, forged withdrawal instructions were written straight into the backend, and 17 large transfers left hot and warm wallets in about an hour. No keys leaked, cold wallets untouched, North Korea suspected. Bitget kept trading online, reopened deposits Sept 26 and BTC withdrawals Sept 28, and says losses are covered 1:1. It stays on our deals page — with a warning.

12.4M XRP drained from 7,000+ D'CENT hardware wallets — cause not yet published

The second-largest XRP theft of the year hit D'CENT users across XRP and other chains; maker IoTrust confirmed 110+ reports. Until the post-mortem lands, any hardware wallet whose seed touched an app-heavy setup deserves suspicion. Same week: a French family held at gunpoint over crypto, and SEC Commissioner Peirce calling self-custody a "fundamental right."

First federal crypto tax bill clears House committee 38–5 — $10 fee de minimis, staking as ordinary income

The House Ways and Means Committee advanced the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act one day after the CLARITY vote failed. It would exempt network and transaction fees of $10 or less (from December 2027), create a Treasury voluntary-disclosure program for past returns, and tax mining and staking rewards as ordinary income — while leaving when they count as income unresolved. It is a committee vote, not law: the House is out until after the November elections and the Senate has its own draft. Nothing changes for your 2025 or 2026 return.

After CLARITY failed, the regulators shipped: SEC Innovation Exemption, CFTC no-action, Crypto.com stock futures

The SEC released a five-year Innovation Exemption for onchain trading of tokenized stocks (effective immediately, no synthetics), the CFTC issued a no-action position for software developers connecting users to regulated derivatives markets, and Crypto.com's Nadex registered with the SEC for single-stock futures. Caveat: agency moves can be reversed by a future commission. Market read from Bitwise's Hougan: Bitcoin rose from ~$58K to $80K+ while the bill's odds fell 39%→14% — "a speed bump, not a roadblock."

CLARITY Act vote result: Senate cloture fails 49–50 as negotiating Democrats vote no

The procedural vote fell short of the 60 needed to open floor debate. The Democrats who spent months negotiating the text — Gillibrand, Warner, Booker, Warnock, Gallego, Alsobrooks and Cortez Masto — all voted no: the bloc that was supposed to deliver seven votes delivered none. It failed over ethics language on officials' crypto holdings, not the SEC/CFTC framework itself — and the market had priced it in, with Polymarket odds halving overnight to 17–18%. Day after: Tillis switched to no only to file a motion to reconsider (real support: 50); senators point to the November lame-duck session; the SEC is drafting adviser-custody rules regardless; Bitcoin −4% to ~$76,000, no cascade. For holders nothing changes.

Warning: fake "Trezor entropy check" emails are stealing seed phrases right now

A phishing wave is hitting Trezor newsletter subscribers — four identical copies landed in our own inbox. The emails claim a "critical STM32 entropy vulnerability" in Trezor devices and push a browser "check tool" that asks for your recovery phrase. It's fabricated: the technical story is lifted from the real Coldcard incident and pinned on Trezor, and the emails went out through a compromised third-party email provider — Trezor has confirmed the impersonation. The rule that saves you: no legitimate company will ever ask you to type your seed phrase into a website. If you entered yours anywhere, move your funds to a fresh wallet immediately.

Coldcard theft update: investigators may know who did it

The $116M Coldcard seed-flaw theft has its first real lead — the attacker used a paid account at a blockchain data service whose internal logs matched the theft pattern, and about 1,082 BTC from the first wave still sits untouched. If you generated a seed on a Coldcard between March 2021 and the July patch, migrate your funds now.