News & Research

Tether said it participated in the seed funding round for EFY Finance, a financial infrastructure company in Latin America. The investment is aimed at expanding institutional adoption of USD₮ and USA₮ and strengthening links between stablecoins and traditional financial systems. Tether plans to support EFY Finance in building stablecoin-based cross-border payments, account services, and crypto custody infrastructure.

Crypto market maker Jump Trading is entering the market for AI computing resource trading after hiring two co-founders of startup Ito Markets, Bloomberg reported. Jump Trading has hired Afan Mustafá and Alejandro Suma Fernández, the co-founders of Ito Markets, and the pair are set to lead a newly created computing resource trading desk at the firm. Ito Markets specializes in connecting AI startups with computing resources needed for development and business operations, while also facilitating trading in usage rights for those resources.

Wintermute said the crypto market has lost momentum from capital inflows, while equities have maintained their gains on the back of corporate earnings. The firm added that two conditions need to be met for crypto to keep a constructive outlook: stabilization in U.S. Treasury yields and a return to net inflows into spot ETFs. Until those conditions are met, Bitcoin may continue to behave like a high-beta asset that is highly sensitive to stock-market moves, Wintermute said in an analysis containing the English phrase "high-beta asset." The firm also cautioned against chasing rallies in altcoins with weak fundamentals during any rebound. At the same time, Wintermute maintained its longer-term positive view, saying market interest in BTC remains below long-term trend levels and that the current upcycle is still in its early stages, leaving room for further gains. As for key variables this week, Wintermute pointed to the U.S. September Consumer Price Index. The firm said whether higher energy prices spread into core inflation could affect the interest-rate outlook, while earnings reports from financial institutions and AI-related companies will also be key gauges for the stock market and the global economy.

AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron urged Robinhood to clarify whether its overseas stock tokenization business will follow U.S. SEC regulatory principles. In a post on X, Aron said Robinhood claims to support the SEC’s new rules on stock tokens in the United States, but has not clearly answered whether it will apply the same principles to its overseas business. Aron added that if Robinhood’s offshore operations do not follow the SEC’s regulatory principles, that could undermine the intent of the rules.

Hyperliquid said its Assistance Fund has cumulatively purchased about 48 million HYPE worth $1.36483 billion. Under Hyperliquid’s operating policy, trading fees allocated to the Assistance Fund are automatically used to buy HYPE, and the HYPE acquired by the fund is permanently burned.

Jack Yi, founder of crypto investment firm LD Capital, said Bitcoin is finding strong support at $81,000 around its 400-day moving average and predicted a bull market will begin next year. Yi said $81,000 is a key support level where the 400-day moving average sits, adding that Bitcoin has repeatedly rebounded quickly whenever its correction has reached that price range. Yi also said resistance has formed at $84,000 along the 20-day moving average, and a quick break above that level could lead BTC to retest a strong resistance zone at $86,500. Bitcoin remains in a long-term bullish uptrend, Yi said, describing the current decline as a temporary correction within that broader rise and adding that both gains and losses do not unfold all at once. Yi said this is why Yi does not take short positions even while expecting near-term weakness.

An anonymous whale transferred 5,170 ETH worth $12.82 million to Tornado Cash about five hours ago, on-chain analyst ai_9684xtpa said. The whale had earlier bought 5,147 ETH at an average price of $1,886.7 on Aug. 12-13, and the transferred holdings were estimated to be sitting on an unrealized profit of about $3.056 million. The purpose of the transfer to Tornado Cash was not identified.

Bitcoin was trading 72% above the average cost basis of long-term holders as of Oct. 13, according to on-chain analyst Axel Adler Jr. Adler said BTC was trading at $83,600, while the average acquisition price for long-term holders stood at $48,600. BTC has not fallen below that cost basis since Jan. 13, 2023, meaning long-term holders have continued to hold unrealized gains, Adler said. The average cost basis peaked at $49,500 on July 30 and has since fallen 1.7%. Since August, the maximum weekly decline in long-term holder supply has been 0.34%, suggesting selling pressure remains moderate. A larger decline rate would indicate accelerating selling, while a return to positive weekly changes would signal that long-term holders are accumulating BTC again, Adler added.

Solana retook the top spot in stock-token spot DEX trading volume by blockchain for the first time in 13 weeks, SolanaFloor reported. According to Blockworks data, Solana recorded about $786.3 million in stock-token spot DEX volume for Oct. 5-11. Over the same period, Robinhood Chain posted $663 million and BNB Chain logged $623.31 million.

Polygon said it has added a feature to Polygon Open Money Stack, or Polygon OMS, that automates stablecoin payout operations for businesses. Companies can pre-set recipients, budget caps, and payout periods, then distribute stablecoins automatically during the specified window. When a payout request is made, the wallet checks on-chain whether the pre-approved conditions are met, and any request that fails those conditions is rejected at the smart contract stage. After approval, servers cannot add recipients, raise limits, or extend expiration periods, although companies can cancel active payout rules to stop subsequent payments. Polygon said the feature can be used for merchant settlements on online trading platforms, freelancer compensation, creator revenue sharing, and customer rewards.