gm 07/10

Summary
gm, Grayscale made history by introducing staking functionality to its Ethereum and Solana ETFs, becoming the first U.S. issuer to offer this feature through spot crypto exchange-traded products. Meanwhile, Galaxy Digital launched GalaxyOne, a new platform offering retail investors up to 8% yields on cash deposits while combining cryptocurrency trading with traditional financial services. On the regulatory front, Standard Chartered warned that stablecoins could potentially attract up to $1 trillion from emerging market banks over the next three years, highlighting the growing intersection between traditional finance and digital assets.

News Headlines
🚨 Fed Rate Decision Uncertainty Amid Government Shutdown

• The ongoing U.S. government shutdown has delayed critical economic data, including the September jobs report, complicating the Fed's upcoming rate decision on October 29.
• While markets expect a 25 basis-point rate cut, the lack of key economic indicators raises the possibility of a pause in rate cuts, which could trigger significant downturns in both stocks and cryptocurrencies.

🚀 Trump's Evolution from Bitcoin Skeptic to Crypto Champion

• President Donald Trump has made a dramatic shift from calling Bitcoin a "scam" to embracing cryptocurrency after being re-elected on a pro-crypto platform.
• Trump has launched NFT collections and a meme coin, and has promised to establish a "strategic Bitcoin stockpile" for the US, aiming to make the nation the "crypto capital of the planet."

🔍 DeFiLlama Delists Aster DEX Data Over Integrity Concerns

• DeFiLlama is removing Aster DEX's perpetual futures volume data due to suspicious correlation with Binance's volumes, raising red flags about possible wash trading.
• Aster's trading volumes show an almost perfect 1:1 correlation with Binance's perpetual volumes, and DeFiLlama requires more granular data to verify order details.

⚙️ Solana Prepares for Major Alpenglow Upgrade

• Solana's Alpenglow upgrade aims to enhance speed, stability, and user accessibility, marking the most significant evolution in its blockchain technology since inception.
• Key improvements include reducing transaction finality from 12 seconds to 150 milliseconds, introducing off-chain voting to reduce network congestion, and increasing block capacity by 25%.

🏦 Russian-Linked Stablecoin A7A5 Sponsors Token2049 Despite Sanctions

• A7A5, a stablecoin issuer linked to sanctioned Russian bank Promsvyazbank, sponsored Token2049 despite Singapore's recent sanctions because the conference is organized by a Hong Kong-based company.
• This situation highlights compliance challenges regarding interactions between financial entities and sanctioned organizations across different jurisdictions.

Market Metrics

Fundraising & VC
1. Bee Maps (Undisclosed, $32M) - Decentralized global mapping platform

Regulatory
⚽ FIFA's Blockchain Ticketing Under Swiss Gambling Investigation

• Switzerland's gambling authority is investigating FIFA's "Right-to-Buy" blockchain collectibles for the 2026 World Cup to determine compliance with local gambling laws.
• These digital collectibles offer fans priority access to purchase tickets, with prices ranging from $149 for specific match tickets to $7,000 for prime tickets at the opening match.

💰 Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Ready to Launch

• Senator Cynthia Lummis announced that fundraising for the US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR) is ready to begin, though legislative hurdles are causing delays in implementation.
• The SBR could be capitalized with Bitcoin seized by the Treasury and potentially acquired through budget-neutral methods to avoid burdening taxpayers.

🌐 India to Launch RBI-Backed Digital Currency

• India announced plans to introduce a digital currency backed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), aimed at simplifying transactions and reducing reliance on traditional banking methods.
• While not banning private cryptocurrencies outright, the Indian government heavily taxes them to deter usage, favoring state-backed digital currencies over "speculative tokens."

📈 Plume Network Registered as SEC Transfer Agent for Tokenized Securities

• Plume Network has received SEC approval to act as a registered transfer agent for tokenized securities, allowing it to manage digital securities and shareholder records directly on-chain.
• This development will streamline processes such as IPOs and small-cap fundraising through smart contract automation and support interoperability with the DTCC settlement network.

💼 EU Considers Centralized Crypto Oversight Under ESMA

• The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) plans to expand its authority to directly oversee cryptocurrency exchanges and operators, shifting away from national-level regulation under MiCA.
• This reform aims to reduce market fragmentation and build a more integrated EU financial landscape by centralizing oversight that is currently distributed across member states.

Technical Analysis
Bitcoin - Bitcoin is within an approximate horizontal trend channel in the short term. This indicates that investors are uncertain and waiting for signals of further direction. A break upwards will be a positive signal, while a break downwards will be a negative signal. The currency has broken up through resistance at points 123500. This predicts a further rise. In case of negative reactions, there will now be support at points 123500. The short term momentum of the currency is strongly positive, with RSI above 70. This indicates increasing optimism among investors and further price increase for Bitcoin. However, particularly for big stocks, high RSI may be a sign that the stock is overbought and that there is a chance of a reaction downwards. The RSI curve shows a rising trend, which is an early signal of a possible trend reversal upwards for the price as well. The currency is overall assessed as technically positive for the short term.

Ethereum - Ethereum is within an approximate horizontal trend channel in the short term. This indicates that investors are uncertain and waiting for signals of further direction. A break upwards will be a positive signal, while a break downwards will be a negative signal. The currency is testing resistance at points 4800. This could give a negative reaction, but an upward breakthrough of points 4800 means a positive signal. The short term momentum of the currency is strongly positive, with RSI above 70. This indicates increasing optimism among investors and further price increase for Ethereum. However, particularly for big stocks, high RSI may be a sign that the stock is overbought and that there is a chance of a reaction downwards. The currency is overall assessed as technically neutral for the short term.