Flash News

TREE NEWS reports: AVAX gained nearly 50% over four weeks, outperforming bitcoin and ether, even as the token slipped 1.7% on the week. During the same period, Avalanche shortened the minimum commitment required of validators. The token held its lead despite the weekly decline.

TREE NEWS reports: SlowMist founder Yu Xian said on X that one of the CryptoBilis-related cases he is tracking involves a Ledger Flex hardware wallet. Previously, the known affected devices were mainly Ledger Nano X, and he suspects other mainstream Ledger models sold through the reseller CryptoBilis may also have been tampered with.

TREE NEWS reports: Security researchers using AI uncovered an XRP bug they valued at “$94 billion,” but received only a $250,000 bounty for the find. Separately, a user reported buying a tampered Ledger hardware wallet from a large retailer in Europe, extending the Ledger supply-chain attack beyond its previous scope. The two developments were reported together in a crypto news roundup.

TREE NEWS reports: A trader netted $1.28 million on new 1,000x exchange Papertrade by moving Hyperliquid’s ETH prices, then lost $450,000 when 30 short positions were liquidated on Saturday night. The positions had stayed open for more than three hours before the liquidation.

TREE NEWS reports: A Ledger Stax hardware wallet has been found containing an unauthorized hardware implant capable of transmitting users’ seed phrases to an attacker, in what is described as the first such case. The suspected modification includes a Nordic nRF9151 4G/LTE cellular modem that does not exist in genuine Ledger devices, alongside additional unauthorized components, with cables running across the battery to an antenna hidden inside the back cover.

TREE NEWS update: The European Union is reviewing MiCA, with a consultation examining whether non-custodial Bitcoin wallet developers should be required to obtain certification before offering their software to the public. ESMA said open-source development, self-custody, automated smart contracts and permissionless infrastructure should not automatically be treated as regulated intermediaries, while proposing a new regulated service for crypto asset service providers that give clients access to decentralized protocols. The review has not changed current rules; the European Commission will assess feedback and submit a report under MiCA Article 140 by June 30, 2027.

TREE NEWS update: The XRP Ledger has patched a decade-old overflow bug in its payment engine that could have allowed an attacker to mint roughly 18 trillion spendable XRP in a single transaction. The flaw has been fixed, closing a vulnerability that threatened the ledger’s supply integrity.

TREE NEWS update: Ledger said all confirmed cases linked to the October 9 theft incident involve devices sold through Southeast Asian reseller CryptoBilis, adding that the number of affected devices is limited and its own systems and direct sales channels were not compromised. The hardware wallet maker said it is working with law enforcement and contacting affected users, while CryptoBilis has confirmed it has stopped selling all hardware wallets.

TREE NEWS update: Coinbase has completed its integration of Deribit, giving former International Exchange clients access to Deribit’s options suite and margin system. US Prime options trading will follow through a separate rollout. The move folds the derivatives venue into Coinbase’s institutional offering.

TREE NEWS reports: Strategy executive chairman Michael Saylor teased further Bitcoin purchases after the company ended September with buybacks of its STRC preferred stock. Investors will have to wait an extra day to learn whether, and how much, Strategy added to its Bitcoin treasury in the first week of October.

TREE NEWS reports: Bitcoin broke above $84,000, trading at $84,036.30 per coin with a 0.16% gain over the past 24 hours. The move marks a fresh push past the round-number level for the largest cryptocurrency.

TREE NEWS reports: US spot Bitcoin ETFs logged $386.3 million in net outflows over the first seven trading days of October, while Ethereum funds extended their losing streak to nine straight days. Solana ETFs also finished the period in the red, leaving all three crypto ETF categories negative for the month to date.

TREE NEWS update: Liquid has kept bitcoin redemptions frozen with reserve coverage at 85.8%, leaving a gap of about 603 BTC. The protocol said peg-outs require full backing and completed security reviews before they can restart.

TREE NEWS update: Papertrade said it is tightening trading limits after manipulation allegations, restricting exposure onchain and through relayers. The team’s statement does not confirm claims that a trader was blacklisted or prevented from closing positions.

TREE NEWS reports: PeckShield traced $3.89 million in funds from the Ledger theft to deposits at Binance, including reported Tron deposits that give investigators an exchange-account lead. Intermediary wallets that handled other clients’ money complicate attribution of the stolen assets.

TREE NEWS reports: deBridge, Cronos and zkSync are scheduled to release locked tokens this week. deBridge will unlock 630 million DBR worth about $12.03 million, more than 10% of its circulating supply. Cronos will release 1.16 billion CRO valued at roughly $69.73 million, while zkSync will unlock 170 million ZK worth about $2.76 million.

TREE NEWS update: Zhou Hongyi said he fell about three meters while bouldering on the 10th, fracturing his left kneecap. In a video, he said he failed to execute a proper landing, with his left leg absorbing the full impact; he heard an abnormal sound from the knee and immediately lost mobility in the leg.

TREE NEWS reports: US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a $679 million net outflow for the week, reversing the prior week’s gains. Withdrawals on Oct. 7–8 drove a $920 million swing versus the preceding week, leaving the two-week flow total negative.

TREE NEWS update: Zakura, a Zcash full node developer, said it expects hash-based signatures to be introduced to Zcash in January and is releasing a privacy tool for rotating transparent addresses this week. The signatures are aimed at defending users’ keys against AI and quantum attacks. The address-rotation tool is being rolled out to strengthen privacy around transparent transactions.