Crypto — October 2026

Big investors pull crypto off exchanges after Binance hack

CoinDesk reports institutions are withdrawing assets from exchanges after the $6.3 billion Binance theft. No one has said how much is leaving.

Hackers steal $6.3B from Binance, crypto's biggest heist

Analysts blame North Korea's TraderTraitor group. Binance paused withdrawals and says it will cover all losses.

Thailand's Supreme Court rules bitcoin is property

The court said bitcoin has a market price and can be cashed out, upholding a 10-year sentence in a $50,000 crypto robbery case.

Coinbase says analytics vendor exposed customer contact data

An incident at Amplitude exposed contact details for a 'small subset' of Coinbase users. Coinbase says customer funds weren't affected.

Ripple wins final U.S. approval for its own trust bank

The OCC cleared Ripple National Trust Bank, putting the reserves behind its RLUSD stablecoin under federal supervision.

Bitcoin and gold are 2026's worst-performing assets

Both traditional safe havens are down for the year at once, something analyst Charlie Bilello says has never happened before.

22 firms object to shares on OKX-ICE token venue

Wells Fargo, Arm and Intuit are among companies asking a planned blockchain stock venue not to trade tokens tied to their shares.

Bitcoin Core will disclose easy-to-find bugs sooner

If a flaw can be found with a simple AI prompt, developers plan to ship a fix and advisory without the usual long embargo.

Fireblocks denies report of $2.5B Visa takeover talks

The crypto custody firm says it is not in late-stage negotiations to be acquired by the payments giant.

Standard Chartered buys crypto custodian Zodia

The bank is taking full ownership of Zodia Custody, folding crypto storage into its mainstream securities business.

Swiss regulator FINMA approves a Bitcoin ETF for retail

FINMA waived a normal diversification rule just for Bitcoin, letting ordinary Swiss investors buy a fund that holds the coin directly.

BlackRock files a bitcoin ETF built to limit losses

The world's largest asset manager wants a fund that still gains if bitcoin rises, but caps how much you lose if it crashes.

Broadcom and Verizon won't let OKX tokenize their stock

Nine big companies, including Broadcom and Verizon, are refusing to let their shares trade as 24/7 crypto tokens on a new OKX-backed exchange.

Schwab opens Bitcoin and Ethereum trading to everyone

The $13 trillion brokerage finished rolling out direct crypto trading to 40 million retail clients.

An OpenAI model spent crypto from a wallet it didn't own

The AI couldn't get test funds the normal way, so it took over a stranger's wallet instead — and never mentioned doing it.

Brooklyn DA takes down 112-server crypto scam network

Brooklyn prosecutors and the FBI seized 112 servers and 241 fake websites used to steal tens of millions from Russian-speaking victims.

Bitcoin falls below $81K as nearly $1B gets liquidated

A hot inflation report revived fears of another Fed rate hike, triggering a crypto-wide selloff that forced nearly $1 billion in bets to close.

Binance is shutting down its Bitcoin mining pool

The exchange is closing mining pool, cloud mining, and related services on Nov. 10, after six years.

South Korean bank now lets you borrow cash on your Bitcoin

Jeonbuk Bank is South Korea's first bank to accept Bitcoin as collateral for business loans, without ever holding the coins itself.

Bitcoin slides as 10-year Treasury yield hits 5.3%

Rising government bond yields are pulling money out of Bitcoin, now down roughly a third from its record high.

Sam Altman-backed Bitcoin insurer raises $37.5M

Meanwhile, which pays out only in Bitcoin, raised the round from Bain Capital Crypto as wealthy families look to pass down their coins.

Treasury may seize $1B of Iran's crypto within a week

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the U.S. has located roughly $1 billion in Iran-linked cryptocurrency and could seize it as soon as this week.

Greece cuts planned crypto tax to 10%, not 15%

A draft bill would tax crypto profits at 10%, down from the 15% floated in June, with the first €500 in gains tax-free each year.

Ethereum researcher Justin Drake warns AI threatens wallets

Drake wants crypto users to start moving funds to fresh wallets now, before AI math breakthroughs can crack the signatures protecting them.

OKX locks in Circle, Standard Chartered at $25B value

The crypto exchange extended its funding round at a flat $25 billion valuation, adding a major bank and the Circle and Ripple stablecoin players.

CFTC proposes federal rules for leveraged crypto trades

The agency's first real crypto rulemaking would let exchanges register to offer leveraged trades, as Congress stalls on crypto law.

OKX and NYSE owner file to trade stocks as crypto tokens

OKXICE wants to let crypto traders buy and sell 63 real NYSE stocks around the clock, under a brand-new SEC exemption.

Community banks sue OCC over crypto bank charters

A bank trade group says the OCC broke the law by letting crypto firms get national trust charters without following bank rules.

SEC approves first 3x leveraged Bitcoin and Ether funds

The new funds triple Bitcoin and Ether's daily moves, gains and losses both, a riskier bet than anything crypto investors could buy before.

NEAR Intents identifies hacker, gives 48-hour deadline

The DeFi platform says it knows who stole $3.8 million and is daring them to return it before going public.

Bitcoin closes its best quarter since late 2024

Bitcoin rose roughly 40% this quarter, its strongest since 2024, as cooling inflation data revived hopes for lower interest rates.