Cryptoccino — Saturday 03 October 2026

Spot bitcoin ETFs pulled $2.65 billion in September. That is the second-largest monthly net inflow since October 2025, sustaining the institutional bid even as spot prices traded sideways for much of the period. The number underscores that ETF demand is now a persistent structural flow rather than a launch-window artefact. theblock

SEC approves 3x leveraged Bitcoin and Ether ETPs. The products received regulatory sign-off but cannot begin trading yet, as listing exchanges still need to finalise surveillance-sharing arrangements. The approval represents a notable shift in how far the SEC is willing to go on crypto-linked derivative products. cryptobriefing

Cboe proposes perpetual VIX futures in a crypto-style structure. The exchange filed a proposal to create never-expiring VIX contracts modelled loosely on how perpetual swaps function in crypto markets. If approved, it would be the clearest example yet of crypto market microstructure migrating into traditional derivatives. coindesk

Uniswap logs $17.1 billion in tokenised stock DEX volume. The figure puts Uniswap comfortably ahead of every rival in the tokenised-equity trading vertical, a segment that barely existed twelve months ago. Backpack simultaneously brought tokenised BlackRock shares to Solana, and Powerus listed on Nasdaq on Thursday and had its shares trading on Solana by Friday. cryptobriefing cryptobriefing cryptobriefing

Blast is shutting down after TVL collapsed 98% from its $2.3 billion peak. The Paradigm-backed Ethereum L2 announced it is winding down because operating costs have consistently exceeded revenue, with a 26 October deadline for users to withdraw funds via the official bridge. A protocol that once attracted billions on the back of native yield promises could not convert attention into a sustainable fee base. theblock coindesk decrypt

BNY is in talks with Kraken’s parent Payward on an infrastructure partnership. Details remain thin, but a deal would give the world’s largest custodian bank a direct operational link into one of the larger independent crypto exchanges. For Payward, BNY’s institutional credibility and fiat rails would be the obvious draw. coindesk

Absa becomes the first African bank to offer digital-asset custody. The South African lender is targeting a continent-wide market it estimates at roughly $1.5 billion, with the product available initially to institutional clients. The move follows similar custody launches by tier-one banks in Asia and Europe over the past eighteen months. bloomberg_crypto

Tether’s USDT is migrating back to Bitcoin natively after more than a decade away. The move puts USDT on Bitcoin’s base layer again, likely via a protocol such as Taproot Assets or a similar RGB-adjacent stack. For Tether it is partly a resilience play, reducing dependence on Ethereum and Tron for the majority of circulating supply. coindesk

NEAR Intents exploited for $3.8 million, patched within an hour. The team identified the vulnerability rapidly, halted the affected contracts, and committed to compensating affected users. The speed of containment is unusual, though the underlying debate about whether NEAR should have intervened at all echoes the broader THORChain ideological argument around immutability. decrypt cointelegraph_defi

Drift protocol opens exploit recovery claims at roughly 1% initial payout. DFX token holders can either accept the current fractional settlement or wait for future funding rounds with no guaranteed timeline. The structure essentially socialises the loss across the protocol’s user base while the team works to rebuild reserves. theblock

Arbitrum paused new Stylus contract activations in an emergency security action. The Arbitrum security council halted further activation of Stylus programs while an undisclosed vulnerability is assessed. No funds appear to have been lost, and existing deployed contracts were not affected by the pause. cryptobriefing

A 16-year-old arrested in Spain allegedly ran the KillSec ransomware group. Spanish police took the suspect into custody, with a second person facing extradition to Puerto Rico. Investigators are actively tracing crypto payments used to collect ransoms. decrypt

Community banking lobby sues the OCC over its crypto trust charter programme. The Independent Community Bankers of America argues the OCC exceeded its statutory authority by granting federal trust charters to crypto firms that do not take deposits, a power it claims belongs to state regulators. The suit is the first direct legal challenge to the OCC’s effort to build a federal crypto-custody framework and could freeze the programme if courts issue a preliminary injunction. coindesk cryptobriefing

BitGo CEO warns Clarity’s collapse left systemic risk worse than Lehman-era exposures. Mike Belshe told The Block that allowing a single entity to combine exchange, brokerage, and custody functions created a structural fragility that prudential regulators have still not adequately addressed. His argument is a direct pitch for segregated custody mandates in any follow-on federal market structure legislation. theblock

Jay Clayton floated as Trump’s potential AI czar despite his enforcement-heavy SEC record. Clayton launched the SEC’s regulation-by-enforcement posture on crypto during his tenure, a record that sits awkwardly with the current administration’s stated pro-crypto stance. The appointment, if confirmed, would signal that the White House is less focused on crypto-specific policy and more on using AI oversight as a separate political lever. coindesk

Circle urges the EU to replace MiCA’s bank-deposit reserve mandate with flexible liquidity rules. In a submission to the European Commission’s MiCA review, Circle argues the current 30%-in-bank-deposits requirement effectively locks out the largest global stablecoins and hands incumbents a structural advantage. Bitpanda’s co-CEO, speaking separately, said MiCA has already boosted retail trust in regulated platforms but called for stricter enforcement against non-compliant firms. cointelegraph_regulation decrypt cointelegraph_regulation

What else is grinding?

• Hester Peirce has departed the SEC after eight years as its most prominent internal advocate for digital assets, leaving the commission without its clearest pro-crypto voice ahead of several pending rulemaking decisions. bloomberg_crypto coindesk
• The ECB published a paper outlining three structural models for putting central bank money on-chain, the clearest signal yet that Frankfurt is moving from research to implementation planning. theblock
• South Korea’s financial regulator filed detailed proposed rules for tokenised securities ahead of a 2027 rollout, covering capital requirements, OTC trading licences, and retail investment limits. cointelegraph_regulation
• The US Treasury designated Russia’s A7 network as a transnational criminal organisation, targeting front companies that moved $179 billion through a ruble-denominated token. decrypt
• Kalshi and Coinbase won a partial ruling against Illinois over sports prediction contracts, adding another precedent to the growing body of federal pre-emption case law around prediction markets. cryptobriefing
• Canary Capital amended its PEPE ETF filing, the latest in a series of meme-coin ETF applications testing how far the current SEC’s tolerance for speculative product structures extends. cryptobriefing

Last sip. Blast is gone, Arbitrum’s Stylus is paused, and the OCC’s trust charter programme is in court. The infrastructure layer is tidying itself up whether it means to or not.