Crypto Industry News & Market Trends

Circle and Tether freeze $318K of Bitget hack funds as $387.5M slips away

On Friday (September 25), Circle and Tether stopped nearly $318,000 in stablecoins related to the hack of the Bitget exchange, but by then most of the $387.5 million stolen in the hack had already left. This shows the usefulness, as well as the limits of asset freezes: they only work until the attackers transfer the money.　　The USDC terms of Circle allow the company to restrict transfers from certain addresses. Tether has also used its own controls when working with authorities. However, neither firm can freeze Ether. After stolen assets are turned into ETH, it will be impossible to freeze it.　　What issuers can and cannot freeze　　Decrypt disclosed that Circle banned an address, denoted “Bitget Exploiter 8” on Etherscan at 05:00 UTC on Friday. Tether included the wallet in its USDT blacklist approximately seven hours later. In total, they froze around 99,990 USDC and 218,023 USDT.　　The wallet still had nearly 170 ETH that could still be accessed. Blockchain trackers cited by Decrypt said other addresses controlled by the same hacker held another 63,000+ ETH. The suspect seemed to act fast, converting tokens that could be frozen into ETH before others could take further action.　　Discover more　　Network Security　　Blockchain consulting services　　Merchant Services & Payment Systems　　Bitget

09-26Industry

Coca-Cola hires Rob Gehring from Monster Energy to run its North American operations

This view shows bottles of regular Coca-Cola soda displayed for sale on shelves at a Walmart store in Mexico City on October 27, 2025.　　Yuri Cortez | Afp | Getty Images　　Rob Gehring, the head of Monster Energy‘s Americas business, will leave to run Coca-Cola’s North America unit, the companies said Friday.　　He will take over the position on Dec. 1.　　The move comes as Coke tries to maintain growth while U.S. consumers cut back on spending in the face of higher gas and grocery prices. Despite those dynamics, the beverage giant posted net sales growth of 7% in the second quarter, as volume — a key measure of demand — rose 3% in North America.　　Though Monster Energy parent Monster Beverage is considerably smaller than Coke, its sales have soared in part due to innovation in the energy drink space. The company reported net sales growth of 20% in its second quarter.　　Coke is also investing in developing new beverages beyond its core soda offerings, including refreshers and dirty sodas.　　Gehring, 59, took on his previous role at Monster in February after serving as chief growth officer since 2024. In a press release, Coke said he was “part of the leadership team that drove the companys

09-26Industry

Chainlink Price Prediction: LINK Price Rebounds From $12 as Weekly Resistance Returns Into Focus

On September 24, after the price of Chainlink rallied to defend the $12 level during the recent pullback, the price bounced back above $12.50.　　At the time of writing, according to market data, the price of LINK is $12.59, which represents a 2.31% increase over the last 24 hours. The token had been trading between $12.10 and $12.73, making the price close to the upper half of the daily trading range.　　Notably, the new recovery reinforces the $12 short-term support level. The new recovery has confirmed the $12 short-term support level. At the same time, technicals indicate that prices have rebounded from a previous drop from the $13 level.　　LINK Buyers Continue Defending $12　　Meanwhile, the biggest near-term support that Investor Jordan is looking at is $12.　　The daily chart of Chainlink indicates that the coin is coming back from the weekly resistance level at $13.　　Then Price entered a support box that included the $12 area. So far, that area has been under the control of buyers. Source: Investor Jordan Via X　　Another test of the support zone is likely in Jordans forecast before a larger recovery. His next moves are towards new area highs and then hitting the $14–$15 area.　　That move is still a ‘technical

09-26Industry

Van Charged Over Alleged $53 Million Crypto Laundering

Federal prosecutors charged Vietnamese national Trung Nguyen Van with laundering about $53 million in cryptocurrency allegedly stolen from U.S. victims through romance scams. Van appeared in court Friday as prosecutors accused him of moving the proceeds through crypto investments to conceal their source.　　$16M Missouri Loss Traced To Van　　An affidavit says a Missouri victim lost about $16 million between June and August 2024 after scammers directed the person to a fake crypto investment platform called Triangle. Investigators later traced more than $569,000 of the victims funds to a digital wallet linked to Van on Aug. 7.　　Related: Bitget Traces $387.5M Crypto Incident, Plans Withdrawal Update by Sept. 26　　Two days later, six more transfers tied to victims reached the same wallet, according to the affidavit. Investigators said Van then moved nearly $568,000 in four transactions to private crypto wallets, moving the funds outside centralized exchanges.　　Investigators Trace Wider Crypto Flows　　Investigators say wallets linked to Van received about $53 million in cryptocurrency tied to wire fraud between February 2018 and December 2024.　　The scams often began on dating apps, through text messages or on social media, according to authorities. After gaining victims trust, scammers directed them to fake investment platforms showing fabricated profits. Those apparent gains

09-26Industry

Best Crypto To Buy Now: Pepeto's 100x Launch Talk Pulls Buyers From Canton And River As Deutsche Bank Opens Bitcoin Custody

This is a press release sponsored content. BlockchainReporter did not write, edit, or verify this content.　　Deutsche Bank, one of Europes largest lenders, said on September 16 it will hold Bitcoin and Ether for its institutional and corporate clients, per The Block, a service built for big clients only that goes live once regulators finish their checks.　　While the banks move at that pace, everyday buyers are moving fast into the Pepeto presale, getting set ahead of a listing that many expect to kick off a 100x run.　　Over $11 million is already in from more than 43,000 holders, and because each finished stage pushes the price higher, Pepeto is shaping up as the best crypto to buy now, with staking rewards stacking up for early holders while they wait.　　Deutsche Bank moves to offer Bitcoin custody to institutions　　The custody service will start with Bitcoin, Ether and three regulated stablecoins, USDC, EURC and EURAU, and Deutsche Bank will keep client wallets and private keys in both warm and cold storage, so clients never build their own setup.　　Discover more　　Commodities & Futures Trading　　Currencies & Foreign Exchange　　Crypto tax software　　Access is narrow on purpose, since asset managers, hedge funds, brokers, corporates and sovereign institutions come first, and the

09-26Industry

HIFI Raises $37M Series A to Build Settlement Rails for Tokenized Money

The funding was led by Left Lane Capital, and aims to expand the companys regulatory licenses, card products, and capital markets infrastructure.　　HIFI, the New York stablecoin infrastructure company that took part in DTCCs July tokenized securities trades, raised a $37 million Series A led by Left Lane Capital, it said on Thursday, with the money going to licenses, cards and capital markets.　　Matthew Miller, Managing Partner at Left Lane Capital, joins the board. HIFI said its platform moves more than $7 billion a year and that usage among existing customers has grown more than fourfold in six months.　　Companies building on it have also onboarded more than 10,000 businesses and 200,000 individuals, with payouts reaching 87 countries, the team stated.　　Repo Trades and Visa Payouts　　Sumitomo is rebuilding its cash management and trading operations on the platform, Dapper is building digital marketplaces on it, and Arival Bank uses it for stablecoin payments.　　A Form D that HIFI Bridge, Inc. filed with the SEC on September 3 covers a $27.3 million equity offering, $21.8 million of which has been sold to 24 investors since a first sale on August 19.　　DTCC ran production trades with tokenized DTC-held securities on July 15 across more than 30 firms, among

09-26Industry

Fed Proposes Two-Day Redemption Limit and Capital Buffers for the Stablecoin Issuers It Supervises

The Federal Reserve Board opened two GENIUS Act proposals for comment, covering stablecoin reserves, capital charges, redemption limits, and bank applications.　　Two business days. That is the longest a holder would wait for dollars from a stablecoin issuer the Federal Reserve supervises, if the new proposal survives public comment.　　The Board put out two proposals on Thursday, both tied to the GENIUS Act. Comments stay open for 60 days after each notice appears in the Federal Register. The rules would cover issuers that are subsidiaries of state member banks, plus uninsured state-chartered issuers with $10 billion or more in coins outstanding.Source: Federal Reserve Board press release, September 24, 2026　　Discover more　　Crypto tax software　　Hire Grant Writers　　financing　　What Counts as Backing　　Every coin needs backing worth at least its face value, at all times. Allowed assets include dollars, balances at Federal Reserve Banks, demand deposits at insured banks and Treasury bills with 93 days or less left to run. Overnight repo and funds holding only those assets make the list too. Tokenized versions of some of them count as well, and Wall Street keeps pushing more holdings onchain, as BlackRock and Ondo showed the same day.　　Issuers would also have to spread the risk. Piling uninsured deposits into

09-26Industry

Sequans Sells Final 314 BTC to Clear Corporate Debt

Key TakeawaysSequans Communications sold its final 314 bitcoin, fully exiting its digital asset treasury strategy.The exit mirrors a 2026 industry trend where companies like KULR and Riot Platforms liquidated bitcoin reserves.Sequans will use its simplified capital structure to scale 5G eRedCap and SDR chips after 80% Q2 growth.　　Debt Elimination and Balance Sheet Unwind　　Sequans Communications has completed its exit from its Bitcoin corporate treasury strategy following the sale of its remaining 314 bitcoin holdings, the company announced. The fabless semiconductor provider reported that the liquidation leaves the company with zero cryptocurrency assets and no outstanding corporate debt beyond obligations tied to government-financed research and development projects.　　The disposition of its digital asset reserves marks the final step in a capital restructuring campaign that began in May 2026 with the redemption of the companys convertible debt. By sunsetting its bitcoin treasury policy, Sequans joins a growing list of public companies that have offloaded cryptocurrency holdings following market volatility.　　KULR Technology Group sold its entire 764 BTC treasury position to eliminate short-term liabilities and redirect capital into energy storage, while Riot Platforms sold 9,665 bitcoin in H1 2026 to fund the AI pivot. Other listed companies taking similar steps include Prenetics Global and Genius Group.　　Commenting

09-26Industry

CFTC offers ‘regulatory clarity for crypto’ without approving BTC or ETH investments

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has come up with its latest update around bringing tokenization and blockchain-based infrastructure closer to the existing regulatory framework.　　Instead of creating an entirely new set of rules for crypto the CFTCs Market Participants Division (MPD), Division of Market Oversight (DMO), and Division of Clearing and Risk (DCR) updated their FAQs to address two specific issues.　　The first being whether customer funds can be invested in tokenized versions of investments that are already permitted under CFTC rules. And the second one involves whether regulated firms can use blockchain technology to meet their recordkeeping obligations.　　Remarking on the same, CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig said,　　I‘m pleased to see staff update these frequently asked questions consistent with the agency’s ongoing efforts to provide regulatory clarity for the crypto industry.　　CFTCs updated rule for assets in tokenization　　That said, in its updated FAQs, the CFTC clarified that assets already permitted under its rules can be held in tokenized form.　　This means traditional assets such as U.S. Treasuries, corporate bonds or money-market fund shares can potentially be represented as blockchain-based tokens, provided the token gives holders the same legal and economic rights as the traditional asset.　　This marked a major change for customer funds

09-26Industry

RWA issuers could force transfers on hidden balances under Ethereum's ERC-8424 draft

A draft Ethereum standard called ERC-8424 went up for review on Friday.Issuers of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) would be able to force-transfer assets that still have encrypted amounts.　　The pull request was published by Aryeh Greenberg, an OpenZeppelin developer who posts as arr00 in the ethereum/ERCs repository.　　ERC-8424 adds two public checks and three private functions to ERC-7984　　An Ethereum standard named ERC-7984 already exists for private tokens that store amounts as encrypted pointers. ERC-8424 builds on that standard.　　The draft also has two plaintext eligibility checks, a confidential check to see if a certain transfer is allowed, a confidential number showing how much of a balance can be spent, and a forced transfer that only authorized parties can use.　　When figuring out the amount that can be spent, issuer freezes, lockups, vesting schedules, and pledged amounts must be taken into account. The draft puts limits on minting, burning, stopping, and freezing, but it doesnt say how they should be put into action.　　There are rules about who can transfer money and how much can be sent. “An issuer may be required to move assets without a holders consent,” the draft also says.　　In the draft, it is written that ERC-3643 and ERC-7943 for tokens with public

09-26Industry