gm 28/10

Summary
gm, Major institutional developments emerged with Western Union announcing plans to pilot stablecoin-based settlement systems, IBM launching a new "Digital Asset Haven" platform for managing blockchain services, and Bitwise preparing to launch the first U.S. Solana Staking ETF. Meanwhile, former Binance CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao received a controversial presidential pardon, prompting some lawmakers to propose legislation banning elected officials from trading cryptocurrencies. On the security front, a report revealed North Korea has stolen $2.84 billion in cryptocurrency since January 2024, though authorities note improving capabilities to counter these attacks.

News Headlines
💰 Bitcoin ETPs See $921M in Inflows as Sentiment Improves

• Cryptocurrency investment products saw $921 million in inflows last week, rebounding from the previous week's $513 million outflow, with Bitcoin attracting $931 million in new investments.
• The inflow surge was driven by positive investor sentiment following lower-than-expected US inflation data, renewing confidence in potential Federal Reserve rate cuts.

💳 Citi Partners with Coinbase to Enhance Crypto Payments for Institutions

• Banking giant Citi has formed a partnership with Coinbase to improve digital asset payment capabilities for its institutional clients across 94 markets globally.
• The collaboration aims to accelerate fiat transactions and strengthen the integration between traditional finance and cryptocurrency on-ramps and off-ramps.

💵 Mt. Gox Pushes Back Bitcoin Repayments by Another Year to 2026

• Mt. Gox's trustee has postponed the deadline for creditor repayments to October 31, 2026, citing incomplete procedures and issues in processing payments.
• While approximately 19,500 creditors have received their funds, many remain unpaid due to procedural delays, extending the decade-long bankruptcy process for affected users.

🐳 Tom Lee's BitMine Adds $321 Million in Ethereum to Treasury

• BitMine Immersion Technologies has acquired $321 million worth of Ethereum (77,055 ETH), increasing its total holdings to over $13.8 billion (3.313 million ETH).
• The company's stock rose more than 5% following the announcement, as BitMine continues to outpace competitors in Ethereum treasury holdings.

🧠 Alibaba's Qwen Deep Research Creates Live Webpages and Podcasts in Seconds

• Alibaba has significantly upgraded its AI chatbot with functionality that converts reports into live webpages and podcasts with a single click, powered by three open-source models.
• The system outperforms competitors like Gemini, ChatGPT, and Grok in analysis depth and citation accuracy, while offering free comprehensive content creation for academics and creators.

Market Metrics

Fundraising & VC
1. Kite AI (Series A, Undisclosed) - Purpose-built, EVM-compatible Layer 1 blockchain
2. Paystream (Public Token Sale, $750K) - Peer‑to‑peer lending and leveraged liquidity protocol on Solana

Regulatory
🏛️ Indian Court Rules Crypto is Legal Property in WazirX Case

• India's Madras High Court ruled cryptocurrencies constitute property protected under law, preventing WazirX from reallocating user assets to offset hack losses.
• The landmark decision strengthens consumer protections in India, clarifying that crypto assets held by exchanges must be treated as client property held in trust.

🧠 Ohio Moves to Ban Human-AI Marriages

• Ohio lawmakers have introduced legislation prohibiting humans from marrying or forming legal partnerships with artificial intelligence systems.
• The bill declares that AI lacks consciousness and legal personhood, potentially making Ohio among the first states to establish explicit legislation on AI non-personhood.

⚖️ Ant Group Files "AntCoin" Trademark, Signaling Stablecoin Plans

• Alibaba's fintech arm Ant Group has filed a trademark for "AntCoin" in Hong Kong covering stablecoin issuance, digital asset custody, and financial services.
• The timing coincides with Hong Kong's new stablecoin licensing regime introduced in August, potentially positioning Ant Group to integrate its Alipay ecosystem with regulated blockchain services.

🚀 Solana, Litecoin, and Hedera ETFs Set to Launch This Week

• Four new altcoin ETFs will begin trading in the US, including Bitwise's Solana Staking ETF and Canary Capital's Litecoin and Hedera funds.
• The funds gained approval through an alternative SEC route using generic listing standards for commodity-based trusts, signaling growing acceptance of cryptocurrency-focused investment products.

🏦 ClearBank Joins Circle Network for MiCA-Compliant Stablecoins

• ClearBank is integrating with Circle Payments Network to facilitate cross-border payments using USDC and EURC stablecoins, both compliant with EU's MiCA regulation.
• The partnership aims to enable near-instant global transfers while maintaining regulatory transparency, potentially extending into treasury services and tokenized asset settlements.

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 support at points 109600 and resistance at points 115500. Negative volume balance indicates that sellers are aggressive while buyers are passive, and weakens the currency. The currency is overall assessed as technically slightly negative for the short term.

Ethereum - Ethereum shows weak development in a falling trend channel in the short term. Falling trends indicate that the currency experiences negative development and falling buy interest among investors. The currency is moving within a rectangle formation between support at 3803 and resistance at 4640. A decisive break through one of these levels indicates the new direction for the currency. The currency has support at points 3830 and resistance at points 4300. Volume tops and volume bottoms correspond badly with tops and bottoms in the price. Volume balance is also negative, which confirms the trend. 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 negative for the short term.