Headlines: US President Trump Pardons Binance Founder CZ According to the Wall Street Journal, White House officials announced Thursday that US President Trump has pardoned convicted Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ). White House Press Secretary Carolyn Levitt stated in a statement that Trump "exercised his constitutional authority to pardon Changpeng Zhao, who was indicted in the Biden administration's cryptocurrency crackdown." Zhao had previously resigned as CEO of Binance after the company reached a $4.3 billion settlement with the US government, ending a multi-year investigation. Zhao's pardon marks the latest in a series of white-collar pardons granted by Trump. Earlier this year, Trump pardoned the co-founder of the BitMEX exchange, who was convicted of anti-money laundering violations, the founder of the electric truck company Nikola, who was convicted of fraud, and commuted the sentences of executives at the now-defunct Ozy Media. Kraken closed a $500 million funding round in September, raising its valuation to $15 billion. It plans to go public in Q1 of next year. According to Reuters, Apollo Global Management, Oppenheimer, Jane Street, and HSG, formerly Sequoia Capital China, all participated in the latest funding round for the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, citing sources familiar with the matter. The round valued Kraken at $15 billion. Fortune magazine reported last month that Kraken had raised $500 million, but Reuters disclosed the identities of these major investors and financial industry participants for the first time. One source stated that Qube Research & Technologies, Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi, and Tribe Capital, the venture capital firm co-founded by Sethi, also participated in the round, paving the way for Kraken to go public in the coming months. Kraken expects to confidentially file a registration statement for its initial public offering (IPO) with the US SEC before the end of the year and plans to go public in the first quarter of next year. However, it was unclear how the U.S. government shutdown might affect that timeline, one of the sources added.
Market
As of press time, according to Coingecko data:
BTC price is $110,013, up or down 24 hours by 2.1%;
ETH price is $3,853.15, up or down 24 hours by 1.4%;
BNB price is $1,121.92, up or down 24 hours by 4.6%;
6.1%;
DOGE price is $0.1946, with a 24-hour increase or decrease of 2.4%;
XRP price is $2.40, with a 24-hour increase or decrease of 1.3%;
TRX price is $0.3135, with a 24-hour increase or decrease of -2.5%;
+15.5%; the price of HYPE is $40.17, with a 24-hour increase or decrease of +9.9%.
Policy
▌David Sacks: We are fully capable of passing crypto market structure legislation this year to bring regulatory clarity to the industry
David Sacks, White House director of cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence, said: I met with senators on Capitol Hill today and had fruitful talks with key Democratic members. I believe that we are fully capable of passing crypto market structure legislation this year with bipartisan support, which will ultimately bring much-needed regulatory clarity to the cryptocurrency industry and consolidate the success of the U.S. Stablecoin Innovation GENIUS Act signed by President Trump earlier this year.
▌Coinbase CEO: The Bitcoin Market Structure Bill has received “strong bipartisan support” and is expected to pass
According to market news: Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said in a CNBC live broadcast that the Bitcoin Market Structure Bill has received “strong bipartisan support” and is expected to pass.
▌Trump: CZ is not guilty and is a victim of persecution by the Biden administration
According to market news, US President Trump said, "The reason for pardoning Binance founder CZ is that he is not guilty and is a victim of persecution by the Biden administration."
▌The EU will ban trading in the Russian-related stablecoin A7A5 from November 25
▌Japan plans to ban banks and insurance companies from selling virtual currencies, and securities companies may be allowed to do so
The Japanese Financial Services Agency is promoting a financial product regulatory plan that plans to ban banks and insurance companies from selling virtual currencies, while allowing securities companies and other institutions to engage in virtual currency sales business. Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) has previously considered virtual currencies as investment targets and has been exploring regulatory options under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. The FSA argues that virtual currencies are subject to significant price volatility and pose the risk of asset leakage due to cyberattacks, necessitating the protection of the interests of depositors and insurance contract holders. However, given that online securities firms and other institutions already sell virtual currencies, the FSA has tentatively decided to allow securities subsidiaries of banks or insurance companies to sell virtual currencies, citing fair competition as a key consideration. The report also states that "it is expected that the FSA will only approve banks or insurance companies holding and operating virtual currencies once risk management measures are in place." The FSA plans to submit the relevant legislative amendments to the Diet next year.
Blockchain Application
▌CZ: Thank you Trump for the pardon and will do our best to help the United States become the capital of cryptocurrency
Binance founder CZ expressed his gratitude to Trump for the pardon: "Thank you very much for today's pardon, and thank you President Trump for upholding America's commitment to fairness, innovation, and justice. We will do our best to help the United States become the capital of cryptocurrency and promote the development of Web3 globally. Keep going."
▌Digital Asset Bank Pave Bank Completes US$39 Million Series A Financing, Led by Accel
Pave Bank raised US$39 million in its Series A financing round, led by Accel, with participation from Tether Investments, Wintermute, and others. Pave Bank is a commercial bank designed to serve customers who have both fiat currency and digital asset needs. The bank, which holds a license in Georgia, said it would use the funds to "expand its regulatory scope, accelerate product development, continue to build institutional-grade infrastructure, and expand its customer coverage in global markets."
▌Plasma obtains VASP license to expand stablecoin payment business in the EU
Blockchain company Plasma announced that it will make significant business expansion in Europe to provide regulated payment services. The company said on Thursday that it has acquired an entity with a virtual asset service provider (VASP) license in Italy, allowing it to legally process cryptocurrency transactions and custody assets in the region. As part of its EU expansion plans, the company will open a new office in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and has appointed a chief compliance officer and anti-money laundering reporting officer. Fal.ai, founded by former Coinbase engineers, has secured $250 million in funding, with participation from Sequoia Capital and others. Fal.ai, a digital content hosting platform founded by former Coinbase engineer Burkay Gur and others, announced the completion of a $250 million funding round, with participation from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sequoia Capital, bringing its total funding to $450 million to date. Early investors also include Andreessen Horowitz, Bessemer Venture Partners, and First Round Capital. Fal.ai is a hosting platform that currently primarily hosts digital content such as images, videos, and audio. The new funds will be used to bridge the gap between complex model infrastructure and scalable, real-world applications. The UK government and OpenAI have reached an agreement to expand data hosting. Market news: The UK government has reached an agreement with OpenAI to expand its data hosting scope. (Jinshi) Jupiter Plans Full Launch of New Prediction Market by 2026. Jupiter, a Solana-based decentralized exchange aggregator, is planning to fully launch its native prediction market product, developed in partnership with Kalshi, in the fourth quarter. Jupiter announced on Wednesday the official launch of the beta version of its Jupiter Prediction Market. Kalshi will provide liquidity for this new product, which allows users to bet on the outcomes of various events. Cryptocurrency VanEck: Bitcoin's Pullback is a Cyclical Adjustment, and Global Liquidity Still Drives Price Trends. VanEck released its Bitcoin On-Chain Report for mid-October 2025. The three key takeaways from mid-September to mid-October are as follows: Liquidity drives market cycles. Global M2 money supply growth still explains over half of Bitcoin's price fluctuations, further reinforcing Bitcoin's role as an asset against excessive monetary inflation. Over the past year, Asian trading hours have dominated price discovery, suggesting that regional liquidity tightening is driving recent market volatility. Leverage washouts create opportunities. Bitcoin futures open interest peaked at $52 billion in early October, followed by a series of liquidations that caused Bitcoin to fall approximately 18% in early October. Leverage has now fallen back to the 61st percentile, and Bitcoin's price relative to gold is near a one-year low. We believe this represents a mid-cycle correction rather than the start of a bear market. On-chain data reflects market maturity. Revenue and price of major public chains (L1) show a strong correlation, and institutional holdings of the Bitcoin Treasury continue to increase, demonstrating the maturation of the Bitcoin ecosystem and strengthening its importance in asset allocation models. Strategy's Bitcoin Accumulation Rate Has Declined to Its Slowest Level in Five Years. Strategy, the world's largest corporate Bitcoin treasury firm, is increasing its Bitcoin holdings at its slowest pace in five years. As of this quarter, Strategy had added only 388 Bitcoins, bringing its total holdings to 640,031 at the end of the third quarter—a mere 0.1% increase. In previous quarters, Strategy's treasury increases typically ranged from high-single-digit to high-double-digit percentage increases. In fact, in the fourth quarter of 2024, its BTC holdings increased by a multi-year high of 77%. Unfortunately, as BTC purchases declined, Strategy's MSTR common stock price also fell 10% this quarter. As early as 2020, Michael Saylor's 1990s-era enterprise software company turned to leveraged Bitcoin purchases, starting from a small base and accumulating 70,470 Bitcoins by the end of the year. Its BTC treasury accumulation continued strongly in 2021, with double-digit and high-single-digit percentage increases. The growth rate slowed in 2022 before recovering in 2023 and 2024. An account associated with an "insider whale" had previously bet on CZ's pardon on Polymarket. Coffeeezilla posted on social media that the Polymarket account "bigwinner01," a whale with a 100% win rate on Hyperliquid, which profited approximately $190 million by shorting it before Trump's tweet, had previously bet on CZ receiving a presidential pardon. Coffeezilla pointed out that the timing of this operation was very close to related events, and it is suspected that insider trading was involved. CZ Agrees to Debate Bitcoin and Gold with Crypto Critic Peter Schiff Binance founder CZ agreed to debate Bitcoin and gold with cryptocurrency critic Peter Schiff. CZ: Tokenized Gold Is Not "On-Chain Gold," Essentially a "Trust Token" CZ issued a statement in response to Peter Schiff's launch of a tokenized gold product, stating that "tokenized gold is not truly 'on-chain' gold," but rather a trust based on a promise to a third party to deliver gold in the future, a trust that can be fulfilled even in extreme circumstances such as management changes or war. The amount of SOL locked in Solana DeFi has reached 62.3 million, a new high since June 2022. SolanaFloor announced on the X platform that the amount of SOL locked in Solana DeFi has reached 62.3 million, the highest level since 2022. Vanguard Group Information Technology Index Fund ETF Increases Holdings of Strategy (MSTR) Shares Worth $11.2 Million According to BitcoinTreasuries.NET, Vanguard Group Information Technology Index Fund ETF (VGT) purchased an additional $11.2 million worth of Strategy (MSTR) shares. The fund currently holds 1.7 million shares of MicroStrategy, with a total value of over $489.2 million. Grayscale Stacks Trust Lists on OTCQB Market Digital asset investment platform Grayscale announced that Grayscale Stacks Trust has begun trading on OTCQB, the U.S. secondary market operated by OTC Markets Group Inc., under the ticker symbol STCK. Grayscale Stacks Trust (ticker symbol: STCK) will be offered to accredited investors through a private placement starting in May 2024. With today's listing, STCK becomes the first publicly listed U.S. investment product designed to provide investment opportunities in STX, the underlying token of the Stacks network. Coinbase to List Spot Trading of aPriori (APR) and Meteora (MET) Coinbase to List Spot Trading of aPriori (APR) and Meteora (MET)
Important Economic Developments
▌JPMorgan Chase Expects the Federal Reserve to End Quantitative Tightening Next Week
JPMorgan strategists stated in a report on Wednesday that, given tightening funding conditions this week, the Federal Reserve is likely to end quantitative tightening at next week's October Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. JPMorgan currently expects that in addition to ending balance sheet reduction at the October meeting, the Fed will also immediately initiate temporary open market operations, particularly to alleviate funding pressures on settlement dates, the end of the Canadian fiscal year, and other periods.
▌The probability of a 25 basis point Fed rate cut in October is 98.3%
According to the CME "Fed Watch": The probability of a 25 basis point Fed rate cut in October is 98.3%, and the probability of keeping interest rates unchanged is 1.7%. The probability of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates by 50 basis points in December is 93.4%. What is Agent-Based AI? Agent-based AI refers to a type of AI designed to act on its own behalf, possessing a degree of independence and decision-making capabilities. This type of AI doesn't simply process data or respond to commands; instead, it can set goals and make decisions to achieve them, often in a human-like manner. This gives the AI a sense of purpose and the ability to achieve those goals with minimal human intervention. This distinguishes it from traditional AI, which typically requires human input or predefined rules to function. Agent-based AI is self-directed, meaning it can make decisions in real time based on its environment and goals. Agent-based AI works by combining advanced machine learning techniques, decision-making algorithms, and a continuous feedback loop. Think of it as a robot that learns from experience and then uses that knowledge to influence its future actions. It typically works in the following manner: 1. Goal Setting: Agent AI determines its goals based on initial programming or ongoing environmental input. It might be set to accomplish a specific task, such as optimizing a supply chain or increasing user engagement. 2. Decision Making: It then analyzes data and uses algorithms to determine the best course of action to achieve that goal. 3. Learning and Adaptation: Like all AI systems, agent AI learns from both successes and failures. It continuously adjusts its strategies and refines its decision-making process. The key here is that AI can set its own course of action based on real-time input, making it more autonomous than traditional AI systems.
Brian
Weiliang
Miyuki
Alex
Joy