US Spot Bitcoin ETFs Sustain Strong Inflow Streak, Hitting $365 Million

U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) experienced substantial net inflows on Thursday, totaling $365.57 million, marking the largest daily inflow since late July.

This increase extends a positive trend that has now lasted for six consecutive days, according to data from SoSoValue.

The inflows were predominantly driven by Ark Invest and 21Shares, which saw inflows of $113.82 million. BlackRock’s IBIT, the largest spot Bitcoin ETF by net assets, followed closely with $93.38 million in net inflows.

Fidelity’s FBTC also contributed with $74 million, while Bitwise’s BITB reported $50.38 million. Additional inflows were observed in VanEck’s HODL with $22.10 million, and smaller amounts were recorded across various funds from Valkyrie, Invesco, Franklin Templeton, and Grayscale’s Bitcoin Mini Trust. Notably, Grayscale’s GBTC was the only fund to experience net outflows, losing $7.73 million.

Total trade volume among the twelve funds reached $2.43 billion, the highest since August 23, bringing cumulative net inflows in spot Bitcoin ETFs since their inception to $18.31 billion.

In contrast, spot Ethereum ETFs faced net outflows, with Grayscale’s ETHE reporting a loss of $36 million.

Despite some funds experiencing inflows, including Fidelity’s FETH and BlackRock’s ETHA, the overall trend was negative, contributing to a total net outflow of $581.61 million since their launch in July.

U.S. Judge Refuses to Dismiss Charges Against Tornado Cash Co-Founder

A U.S. federal judge has ruled that Roman Storm, co-founder of the crypto mixer Tornado Cash, will stand trial on money laundering charges, rejecting his motion to dismiss the case.

The trial is scheduled to begin on December 2 in New York and is expected to last approximately two weeks.

District Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the Southern District of New York denied Roman Storm's request to dismiss three charges brought against him by the U.S. Department of Justice during a telephonic conference on September 26, according to DeFi Education Fund's Chief Legal Officer Amanda Tuminelli.

These charges include one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of conspiracy to violate the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, each carrying a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Storm also faces a charge of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, which could result in an additional five years of imprisonment.

The indictment, filed last August, alleges that Storm "knowingly facilitated" the laundering of over $1 billion in criminal proceeds through Tornado Cash. The software is designed to enhance privacy for crypto transactions by obscuring the origin and destination of funds.

Storm's defense argued that his role in developing Tornado Cash was protected under the First Amendment. However, Judge Failla stated that the “functional capability” of code does not equate to speech protected by the Constitution, reported by Coindesk.

She emphasized that the government's efforts to combat money laundering and sanction evasion are unrelated to free speech concerns.

Swan Bitcoin Files Lawsuit Against Former Employees Over Alleged Trade Secrets Theft

Swan Bitcoin, a financial services firm focused on Bitcoin, has initiated legal action against several former employees from its mining division, accusing them of stealing proprietary software to establish a competing business.

The lawsuit, filed on September 25, alleges that these ex-employees formed a rival company, Proton Management, and persuaded Tether, a stablecoin issuer and Swan’s funding partner, to sever ties with Swan.

The complaint describes a scheme referred to as “rain and hellfire,” in which the former staff allegedly aimed to usurp Swan’s mining operations and disrupt its business model. Notably, Michael Holmes, Swan’s former Head of Business Development, is identified as the primary orchestrator of this plan, while Raphael Zagury, the former Chief Investment Officer, has taken on the role of CEO at Proton.

Swan claims that it was “blindsided” by a series of resignation letters received on August 8 and 9, followed by a notice from Tether on August 12 indicating that it would shift its mining funding agreement to Proton.

The filing suggests that Tether was intended to provide “legal cover” for this transition, which Swan argues is designed to “irreparably harm” its competitiveness in the market.

The firm had previously launched a managed mining service for institutional investors in May 2024, partnering with Tether with the goal of achieving 100 exahashes of computing power by 2026.

However, in July, Swan’s CEO Cory Klippsten announced potential closure of the mining service due to revenue challenges.

Meme Coin Market Surges as Pump.fun Regains Traction

Meme coins are rallying, with all top 10 meme tokens in the green by huge margins over the past 24 hours. Among them, the viral coin, MOODENG, inspired by a cute baby pygmy hippo in Thailand has risen over 47% in a single day and a whopping 418% in a week.

This frenzy in meme coins comes at a time when the Solana-based token launchpad Pump.fun is showing signs of life after a tough month of having stern competition from a Tron-based rival. On Wednesday, Pump.fun minted 10,309 new meme coins, the most since over a month, signaling a comeback for the platform once used to create more than 20,000 tokens daily at its height.

The broader meme coin market is doing well too. Dogecoin is up 8%, while Shiba Inu is surging an impressive 21%. Rounding out the top five, the larger movers are Solana's Dogwifhat up 5% and Ethereum's Mog Coin jumping 11%.

This resurgence with Pump.fun comes after a period of decline in popularity following the launch of Tron’s SunPump. SunPump briefly surpassed Pump.fun in daily token deployments by August 21, but the dominance was short-lived. Recent data shows SunPump's activity has dropped, with less than 1,000 new tokens launched daily over the past 11 days.

Bitcoin Surges Past $65,000 to Mark Two-month High

Bitcoin (BTC) has surged past the $65,000 mark to touch a two-month-high. The biggest cryptocurrency in the world is currently trading at $65,292, up 2.9% over the past 24 hours.

This has consolidated Bitcoin's recovery from an early September slump, which saw prices as low as $53,000. The new uptick in Bitcoin value follows from the announcement by the Federal Reserve of interest rate cuts and China’s new stimulus policy.

Traditional investors are increasingly gaining exposure to the digital asset through newly introduced Bitcoin ETFs. According to data from Farside Investors, investment in such vehicles has been increasing for five days, with close to half a billion dollars pouring in since Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's announcement of the rate cuts.

For the short sellers, the price increase has resulted in more than $154 million of short positions liquidated across all cryptocurrencies in the last 24 hours, while alone, Bitcoin shorts accounted for nearly $74 million of those liquidations, data from CoinGlass showed.

Attention now shifts to the US presidential election in November. Former President Donald Trump has been extremely vocal in his support of the crypto industry, while Democrat Kamala Harris has only recently started speaking about the topic, reportedly talking in a fundraising speech about plans to support "digital assets."

Bitcoin’s $8 Billion Options Expiry on Friday Could Lead to High Volatility

Bitcoin (BTC) has surpassed the milestone of $65,000 seen since early August. The surge is coming ahead of an $8 billion Bitcoin options expiry due on Friday and is likely to lead to high volatility, analysts say.

Bitcoin is currently trading at $65,425, up 3% in the past 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap. It has rebounded strongly from its tumble in early September, when it traded as low as $53,000.

While the upcoming $8 billion options expiry is significant, it's not unprecedented. The final monthly expiry before this year's Bitcoin halving in April saw a record $14 billion in options contracts.

Friday's expiry remains, however, the second-largest monthly event on record for Deribit, the largest cryptocurrency options exchange, accounting for $5.8 billion of the expiring options.

Luuk Strijers, chief executive of Deribit, estimated that about 20% of such contracts were "in the money" as of Wednesday. However, this distribution has been unequal, with almost 28% of call options and 9% of put options in the money.

However, traders are also watching the release of the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, set for Friday. The PCE report, which measures the prices of everyday goods, is expected to show a 0.1% month-over-month increase and a 2.7% year-over-year rise, according to consensus estimates from FactSet.

The recent surge in the cryptocurrency also coincides with broader market trends following the Federal Reserve's decision last week to cut interest rates. The move has helped not only Bitcoin but other digital assets and tokens to surge along with U.S. equities, as investors seem to regain their appetite for riskier assets.

Bloomberg: Robinhood and Revolut Could Issue Their Own Stablecoins

Fintech giants Robinhood and Revolut are reportedly contemplating making their entry into the stablecoin market. This comes in light of new regulations in Europe that are believed to shed the much-needed light upon the sector.

According to a report on Bloomberg, both Robinhood and Revolut are reportedly considering the issuance of their own stablecoins, joining an increasingly attractive market dominated by Tether's USDT. USDT currently boasts a market cap of over $119 billion.

Tether has greatly benefited from the turbulent macroeconomic environment and crypto market volatility over the last couple of years. Banking crises on top of the regulatory crackdowns on U.S. firms contributed to the remarkable growth of USDT, which now controls more than 75% of the whole market.

Tether also announced record profits of $5.2 billion in the first half of 2024. It has also shored up its reserves with a larger hoard of US government bonds. The attractive business model has resulted in more companies joining the stablecoin market, though neither Robinhood nor Revolut has confirmed the reports.

n 2023, MiCA-European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation-will dramatically change how stablecoins will be created, sold, and traded. The implementation of MiCA was conducted in two phases, and the first one expired on June 30, 2024. During the first phase, the regulations on the reserve requirements, transparency, and caps on the volume of transactions came into play, forcing some exchanges to reconsider their stablecoin offerings.

A second phase, due to take effect from December 30, 2024, extends those rules to crypto-asset service providers, including exchanges, wallets, and other service companies.

The new regulations put tight controls on so-called stablecoins, variously described as "asset-referenced tokens" or "electronic money tokens," and will require daily volume limits of just $200 million to be used in payments.

Mark Cuban Eyes SEC Chair Role in Potential Harris Administration

Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban has made clear he'd still like to helm the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission should Kamala Harris prevail in November.

An outspoken cryptocurrency industry advocate and backer of Harris's presidential bid, Cuban confirmed that he is open to helming up the financial regulatory body.

The potential Cuban bid for the SEC chair position is a surprise for many, as he has never taken an official position in government. However, previous SEC chairs, including Jay Clayton under the Trump administration, were sourced from the private sector without prior governmental roles.

This tech mogul has often publicly expressed his discontent with the forceful enforcement actions by the current SEC Chair, Gary Gensler, against American crypto firms.

Despite that potential conflict, Cuban has emerged as one of the few crypto industry advocates with close ties to Harris's inner circle, reportedly using his influence to nudge the Democratic nominee toward a more crypto-friendly stance than the current administration.

During a recent speech at The Economic Club of Pittsburgh, Harris vowed to keep America "dominant in AI and quantum computing, blockchain and other emerging technologies." Following the speech, Cuban told a Fox News reporter that if he were to join the Harris administration, it would be to replace Gary Gensler as SEC chair.

During a donor event in Manhattan, Harris finally mentioned her stance on the crypto industry, stating that she would "encourage innovative technologies like AI and digital assets while protecting our consumers and investors."

Ethena Set to Launch UStb Stablecoin Backed by BlackRock’s Tokenized Fund

Ethena has announced plans to introduce a new stablecoin, UStb, which will be backed by BlackRock's tokenized U.S. Treasuries fund, known as BUIDL.

This initiative comes as Ethena's existing decentralized synthetic dollar, USDe, has rapidly ascended to become the fifth-largest stablecoin, boasting a circulating supply of $2.6 billion.

UStb is designed to operate similarly to conventional stablecoins, with its reserves expected to be invested in BlackRock’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund, which is tokenized on the Ethereum blockchain.

BlackRock’s BUIDL fund, which has accumulated over $522 million in assets since its launch in March, invests primarily in U.S. dollars, short-term Treasury bills, and repurchase agreements.

Securitize, a platform specializing in real-world asset tokenization, will assist in the launch of UStb. The broader market for tokenized government securities has reached over $2 billion, as reported by asset management firm 21.co.

Distinct from USDe, UStb will serve as a wholly independent product, providing a different risk profile. USDe utilizes derivative hedging strategies that rely on various cryptocurrencies as collateral, creating exposure to market volatility and counterparty risks.

During a recent market downturn, USDe experienced nearly $100 million in redemptions and briefly dipped to $0.997 before stabilizing.

Ethena has indicated that UStb may enhance USDe's resilience during challenging market conditions. The governance of Ethena may decide to reallocate backing assets from USDe to UStb during negative funding periods to mitigate risks.

Additionally, UStb is expected to be utilized as margin collateral on centralized exchanges, such as Bybit and Bitget, with which Ethena has partnered.

In February, Ethena Labs raised $14 million in a strategic funding round, positioning the company at a $300 million valuation.

TON Blockchain Braces for Surge in User Activity as Hamster Kombat Expands

The Open Network (TON) blockchain is gearing up for a surge in activity as the Web3 game Hamster Kombat expands its user base and prepares for the minting of its new HMSTR tokens.

On September 25, a notice was issued via a Telegram channel dedicated to TON validators, urging them to brace for an anticipated influx of users.

Hamster Kombat, which currently boasts 100 million monthly active users, has become one of the fastest-growing applications in history, recently surpassing notable apps like Pokémon GO and Meta’s Threads.

The game developers have indicated that they expect millions more to join as the HMSTR token minting commences.

In light of this anticipated demand, TON validators have been instructed to ensure high availability and monitor their systems closely. They are encouraged to join the “TON Status” Telegram channel for real-time support from September 26 to 29.

The communication emphasized that validators must be prepared to implement urgent fixes or allocate resources within one hour if needed.

The announcement highlighted the importance of validator performance, stating, “The quality of validators directly affects the quality of the blockchain.”

This call for action comes as the Hamster Kombat team also revealed plans for Q4 2024 and early 2025, which include integrating external payment systems and launching new games within the Hamster ecosystem.

Additionally, the game has taken measures against cheating, reportedly banning 2.3 million users.

The rapid growth of Hamster Kombat reflects a broader trend in the Web3 gaming space, where innovative approaches are reshaping the play-to-earn model, according to industry experts.

Taurus Partners with Aktionariat for Tokenization of Equity Shares

Swiss blockchain firms Taurus SA and Aktionariat AG have announced a new partnership aimed at enhancing the tokenization of equity shares.

Under this agreement, Taurus will provide digital asset services for selected Ethereum-based tokenized shares issued by Aktionariat, while Aktionariat will facilitate a pathway for client companies to list their shares on the Taurus Digital eXchange (TDX).

The collaboration is expected to launch in November. The initiative aims to increase liquidity for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by leveraging Taurus' institutional-grade trading technology and Aktionariat's expertise in tokenizing Swiss companies’ equity.

This partnership is positioned to connect these enterprises with a wider network of banks, professional investors, and retail clients.

Security tokens, which represent fractions of real-world assets, including equity, real estate, and bonds, will be a key focus of this collaboration. These tokens allow owners to hold stakes in the underlying assets, although legal uncertainties regarding their status remain.

RealUnit, a crypto-focused investment firm, is among the first to utilize the new platform, having tokenized its shares with Aktionariat in April 2022 on the Ethereum blockchain.

Investors will have the option to choose between traditional bearer shares and tokenized shares, marking a notable development in Switzerland's financial landscape.

Taurus aims to digitize private markets, making private equity investments more accessible. The firm envisions that purchasing a private security could eventually become as straightforward as buying a book online, regardless of the asset type.

Experts Weigh In on Coinbase-BlackRock “Paper Bitcoin” Spot ETF Rumors

Coinbase, America's largest crypto exchange, and BlackRock, the world's premier asset manager, have found themselves rooted in a new conspiracy theory. Skeptics are spreading unsubstantiated rumors that Coinbase may not actually be buying the real Bitcoin requested by ETF funds but instead issues what they call "paper Bitcoin" or IOUs.

These rumors spread far enough on social media platforms to warrant a response from Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. Armstrong waved off the concerns, saying: "All ETF mints and burns we process ultimately settle on-chain."

But conspiracy theorists got new ammo when BlackRock filed an amendment to its ETF registration with the SEC that requires Coinbase to release Bitcoin to the asset manager within 12 hours of notice when customers buy shares of its Bitcoin ETF product.

Other vocal critics online have gone so far as to say that BlackRock can "take as much Bitcoin as they want from Coinbase" through transactions recorded off-chain.

However, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said those are unfounded conspiracy theories. "This isn't like FTX, where you just throw up an exchange out of nowhere, and some buffoon is running it from a Bahama penthouse," he said. "BlackRock's a serious company that has dozens of lawyers. They're not going to blow their well-earned reputation, let alone get sued by all those investors.

To further debunk these rumors, Balchunas said that, after speaking to BlackRock, he was able to confirm the asset manager operates its own blockchain node and routinely verifies Bitcoin balances from their wallet addresses on Coinbase Prime.

China Reveals Massive Stimulus Package, Increased Liquidity Could Boost Crypto Prices

The People's Bank of China just announced a massive stimulus package that is reverberating through global markets. According to the South China Morning Post, the "policy bazooka" follows a rate cut from the US Federal Reserve.

Measures by the Chinese central bank also include a dramatic cut to the bank reserve requirements, as well as a 50-basis-point cut to the existing mortgage rates. The motive has been to infuse more liquidity into the economy and firm up the sectors that have been performing weakly, especially in housing and consumer spending.

No sooner were the reports out than cryptocurrency enthusiasts started speculating at the possible implications of the monetary easing in China for digital assets. Su Zhu, the founder of the now-defunct Three Arrows Capital, proclaimed that the "China stimulus cycle is kicking in," insinuating that crypto prices could benefit from such a move.

Economist Lyn Alden suggests that Bitcoin's price is historically closely tied to global liquidity, which would indicate the Chinese stimulus could support cryptocurrency valuations into the future.

Beyond the issue of cryptocurrencies, the Chinese government has been working to shore up its economy in other ways, including an 800 billion yuan infusion to prop up Chinese stocks and a plan to create a stock market stabilization fund. These moves have managed to push the value of the CSI 300 index up 7% in the last week.

The timing of this Chinese stimulus package, coming so close to the heels of the Federal Reserve's first rate cut in four years, has set up an extraordinary global economic environment. Classically, these conditions of increased liquidity and lower interest rates usually signal great times for risk assets such as stocks and cryptocurrencies.

XProtocol Announces XForge, Ethereum DePIN Smartphone for Blockchain Gaming

XProtocol announced Wednesday its plans to release the XForge, an Android-powered gaming smartphone that has been referred to as the world's first "DePIN phone," slated to hit the market later this year.

Competitively priced at $299, XForge features 256GB of storage, 12GB of RAM, and a strong Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. But in terms of differentiation, it's how this device connects with the layer-3 network that XProtocol built atop Coinbase's Base layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum.

The company announced plans to migrate further onto its independent layer-1 network due to a need for "greater autonomy and scalability." An ambitious roadmap underlines a commitment to push the boundaries of blockchain integration into everyday devices.

DePIN stands for decentralized physical infrastructure networks, meaning blockchain-powered networks of physical hardware. XProtocol foresees a future in which the network is powered not just by software running on XForge handsets but also by dedicated Xardian Nodes.

XProtocol's announcement comes after an incursion into the crypto smartphone market by Solana Mobile. After launching its first crypto smartphone, the Saga, last year, Solana Mobile recently announced its second-generation Seeker smartphone that promises greater functionality at a more affordable price than its predecessor, from $450 for early pre-orders.

Hacker of Indian Exchange WazirX Nearly Fully Laundered Funds

The mastermind of India's biggest crypto heist has almost fully washed the tokens stolen from the platform. The July hack resulted in WazirX, once considered one of India's leading cryptocurrency exchanges, losing more than $230 million in funds.

According to on-chain data, the wallet of the hacker, which held the pilfered funds from the start, now has a mere $6 million in Ethereum. Blockchain analytics firm Arkham previously traced these funds and noticed that the stolen tokens have been transferred around new wallets and then transferred through Tornado Cash, one of the notorious privacy services.

This laundering operation has increased manifold in the last couple of months. In August alone, close to $50 million in tokens were transferred into Tornado Cash. However, this illegal activity increased considerably in September. The latest occurred on early Wednesday, transferring 3,792 ETH worth roughly $10 million.

Tornado Cash lets users swap cryptocurrencies across blockchains and anonymizes wallet addresses in question. The Tornado Cash saga took a sharp turn in May when a Dutch court found one of its developers, Alexey Pertsev, guilty of money laundering and gave him a prison sentence of over five years.

The hack that really set this chain of events in top gear was back in July, where one of the multisig wallets of WazirX got breached. The attack is reportedly said to siphon off more than $100 million in SHIB tokens and $52 million in Ethereum among other assets. That staggering loss was more than 45% of the total reserves the exchange reported back in June 2024.

South Korean Crypto Traders Shift Focus to Altcoins as Bullish Market Forecasts Abound

Traders in South Korea have started to shift their attention away from Bitcoin (BTC) and toward altcoins. This is hot on the heels of predictions for lucrative markets following the most recent slashing of interest rates by the United States.

This is revealed by the unexpected move of the Bitcoin Korea premium index, which measures the price difference between Korean and international exchanges, from analytics firm CryptoQuant. It plunged to -0.55 for the first time since October 2023 on Wednesday, the largest discount. In some sense, this signals that Korean investors are not interested in Bitcoin.

Further building evidence of this trend, trading volume data from exchanges domiciled in Korea shows a clear shift toward high-beta alternative cryptocurrencies. A chart compiled by 10x Research, which maps daily Korean trading volumes over the past 40 days, shows a sharp swing away from the bitcoin-Korean won (BTC/KRW) pair. Traders increasingly have shifted to altcoins like UXLINK, CKB, ARK and PEND.

But this is not limited to South Korea, as traders around the world are looking towards altcoins on the basis of more interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve in the months to come. Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research, pointed this out in a note recently, saying, "Quick money is positioned to load the boat on its favorite altcoins on the anticipation of a strong Q4 rally."

Thielen furthered the strategic moves of savvy traders: "As Bitcoin soared above $60,000 and sets its sights on breaking through $65,000, savvy traders have been accruing undervalued altcoins, a list consisting of TAO, ENA, SEI, APT, SUI, NEAR, and GRT". The observation is a wider reflection of market sentiment favorable to diversification and probable high-yielding opportunities in the altcoin space.

SEC Delays Decision on BlackRock and Bitwise Spot Ethereum ETF Options

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has postponed its decision on Nasdaq’s proposed rule change regarding the listing and trading of options on BlackRock and Bitwise’s spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

The ruling, originally set for this Thursday, will now be delayed until November 10, as stated in a release from the agency.

The SEC's decision follows the recent approval for options trading on BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which was granted last week. This approval has been characterized as a significant development for bitcoin ETFs, according to industry analysts.

In addition to BlackRock's proposals, the SEC has also delayed a ruling on NYSE American’s plan to list and trade options on Bitwise’s spot Ethereum ETFs, which include the Grayscale Ethereum Trust and the Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust.

The new deadline for this decision has been set for November 11.

The Nasdaq International Securities Exchange submitted the proposal for IBIT options on August 6, aiming to simplify access to Ethereum ETFs for both retail and institutional investors.

The proposal emphasized that the shares are designed to eliminate the complexities and operational burdens typically associated with direct investments in ether.

Despite these developments, the nine spot Ethereum ETFs have faced challenges, with a total of over $624 million in outflows since their launch on July 23.

BlackRock’s ETHA, however, has managed to attract substantial investments, holding net assets of approximately $977 million and accumulating $1.10 billion in net inflows, the highest among its peers according to SoSoValue.

Exodus Donates $1.3 Million to Mobilize Crypto Voters Ahead of Election

Exodus, a cryptocurrency wallet provider founded in 2015, has announced a $1.3 million donation to the Stand With Crypto Alliance, a political action committee (PAC) focused on increasing political engagement among American crypto voters.

The donation, made public on September 24, aims to support the PAC's mission of educating voters about cryptocurrency and advocating for regulatory clarity in the industry.

The Stand With Crypto Alliance, established in May 2023 by Coinbase, seeks to mobilize an estimated 52 million American crypto owners as the presidential election approaches on November 5.

The alliance claims to have raised a total of $180 million from approximately 1.49 million crypto advocates, although the Federal Election Commission reports that only $13,690 had been contributed directly to the PAC as of June 30.

In addition to voter mobilization, the organization is advocating for policies such as the “Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act” (FIT21), which has garnered bipartisan support in Congress.

The alliance has developed a database of over 1,000 politicians, providing letter grades based on their support for the crypto industry.

The organization updated its scorecard on September 25, indicating a need for clearer stances from candidates to qualify for a grade.

Political analysts have highlighted the significance of crypto voters in the upcoming election. John Anzalone, a former campaign strategist for Joe Biden, noted that this demographic could be a crucial factor in determining electoral outcomes.

Current polling suggests a tight race between Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican candidate former President Donald Trump, with Harris holding a slim lead of 50% compared to Trump’s 48%, according to the crypto prediction platform Polymarket.

Banana Gun to Refund $3 Million Following Exploit of Telegram Bot

Banana Gun has announced that it will refund $3 million to 11 users affected by a recent exploit involving its Telegram trading bot.

The incident, which occurred last week, led to unauthorized transfers from user wallets, raising concerns about the security of the platform.

The trading bot, which facilitates on-chain transactions and allows users to capitalize on upcoming token launches, has processed over $6.3 billion in trading volume across nearly 279,000 users.

Following the exploit, Banana Gun temporarily disabled its Ethereum Virtual Machine and Solana bot while investigating the incident. The team stated that its back-end systems remained uncompromised.

An internal investigation, along with external assessments, revealed a potential vulnerability in the Telegram message oracle utilized by Banana Gun. This flaw is believed to have been exploited, allowing attackers to target experienced traders known for their presence in the crypto community.

In a statement posted on X, the Banana Gun team assured users that "all impacted users will be fully refunded from the Banana Gun treasury, with no tokens being sold for reimbursements."

The company emphasized that the affected group included a small number of users—specifically, fewer than 10—who were considered “smart money” traders.

To enhance security following the incident, Banana Gun has implemented several mitigations, including a two-hour transfer delay and the addition of two-factor authentication for transactions. Audits of both the front-end and back-end systems are also underway.

The bots were reinstated after the vulnerability was patched last Friday, and no subsequent attacks have been reported since the initial shutdown.

Viral Sensation Moo Deng Solana Meme Coin Surges to $80M Market Cap

A Solana-based meme coin boosted by Moo Deng, a viral pygmy hippo native to Thailand, saw its market cap surge to over $80 million in less than two weeks.

Moo Deng, which roughly translates to "bouncy pork" in Thai, is a two-month-old resident at Khao Kheew Open Zoo, Chonburi, Thailand.

This pint-sized hippo has won the hearts of millions across the globe because of her endearing facial features, which also include chubby cheeks and an always-wet appearance. Social media posts of the baby hippopotamus have gained views running into millions easily, confirming her status as an internet celebrity.

The Solana token MOODENG was created on the meme coin platform Pump.fun, and immediately started flying high. This Tuesday alone, the token's market capitalization reached a high of $80.14 million.

MOODENG now stands as the fourth-largest meme coin on Pump.fun, going above notable contenders like BILLY, SCF, and DADDY. Meanwhile, Moo Deng's popularity in the real world continues to balloon. Khao Kheow Open Zoo has announced plans to launch a 24-hour livestream of the pygmy hippo responding to overwhelming public demand.