Flash News

TREE NEWS reports: Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission reported that commission revenue from virtual asset trading totaled HK$99.3 million in the first half of 2026, down HK$15.5 million, or 13.5%, from HK$114.8 million in the second half of 2025. Total net commission and interest income from securities, futures and options, leveraged foreign exchange and virtual asset trading rose 13% to HK$45.4 billion, while the securities industry’s net profit climbed 21% to HK$51.7 billion.

TREE NEWS update: Catalyst, a startup building AI trading agents for retail investors, has raised a $30 million seed round led by Sequoia Capital, with Jump Trading, PeakXV, Lux Capital, AntiFund, Coinbase and Premji Invest participating. Founded in 2025, the company says its agents convert natural language into trading strategies and execute them with human confirmation. Catalyst claims its pilot generated hundreds of millions of dollars in trading volume within weeks and is opening its waitlist ahead of a broad launch.

TREE NEWS update: China’s National Medical Products Administration has approved AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo’s trastuzumab deruxtecan (branded Enhertu) for adjuvant treatment of adult patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer who have residual invasive disease after neoadjuvant taxane and trastuzumab-based therapy. The approval marks the ninth indication for the antibody-drug conjugate in China.

TREE NEWS reports: Trader Killa said on X that the same traders who shorted bitcoin from $67,000 up to $87,000 are now celebrating a small price pullback, framing it as a “bullish retest” of the uptrend. He argued they are in fact trying to recover earlier losses with a single trade, and that their inability to control greed caused those losses in the first place. Without a change in mindset and strategy, Killa said, the same outcome could repeat.

TREE NEWS update: Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley said AI and crypto “share the same origin” and that the firm plans to expand further into AI. Bitwise currently has two AI ETF applications pending approval: the Bitwise AI Cyber Defense ETF and the Bitwise AI Bond ETF. The company also launched the first US spot NEAR ETF last week.

TREE NEWS reports: Ethereum researcher Justin Drake is calling on crypto holders to calmly begin planning for “Bunker Mode,” warning that artificial intelligence may break crypto encryption before quantum computing does. Reactions to the proposal have so far not been calm. No timeline or specific technical measures were given.

TREE NEWS reports: Crypto trader Killa said on X that Bitcoin again failed to break $87,000, and his 10x long built on an expected second test of the highs was stopped out at breakeven. With the breakout failing and price back at entry, he is now watching the $80,000-$82,000 range to consider rebuilding a 10x long. Killa said he still holds BTC longs at $62,600 and $76,400, sees no rush to add, and remains bullish.

TREE NEWS update: Lopal Technology’s second-tier subsidiary Nanjing Liyuan signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with Zhejiang Jiyao Tongxing Energy Technology to supply 378,600 to 567,800 tons of lithium iron phosphate cathode material between 2026 and 2030. Actual volumes will be determined by orders, and unit prices will be confirmed monthly by both parties, subject to fluctuations in key raw material prices.

TREE NEWS update: Strive CEO Matt Cole said large institutions whose equity mandates bar them from buying bitcoin or bitcoin ETFs are instead buying shares of bitcoin treasury companies to gain indirect BTC exposure. Without Strive and MicroStrategy, Cole said, portfolio managers would have no way to access bitcoin exposure across a $500 billion pool of capital. “We are pushing BTC onto the rails of the traditional financial system,” he said.

TREE NEWS reports: Hyperbot data shows Taiwanese singer and crypto trader Machi Big Brother (Huang Li-cheng) had his entire HYPE long position liquidated for a loss of about $26,000. He is still holding a 25x leveraged Ethereum long of 31,500 ETH worth roughly $79.84 million, with an unrealized loss of $3.506 million and a return on investment of negative 109%.

TREE NEWS update: Jonathan Spalletta has been convicted over the $50 million theft from Uranium Finance, a DeFi protocol. Spalletta spent the stolen crypto on Pokémon and Magic cards, a Roman coin marking Julius Caesar’s assassination, and moon-flown Wright brothers fabric.

TREE NEWS update: The US government transferred 9,261 Bitcoin, worth roughly $770 million, to Coinbase Prime, including 2,456 BTC in newly discovered funds tied to federal law enforcement seizures. The move puts the seized coins in the custody of the exchange’s institutional prime brokerage arm. No sale of the Bitcoin has been announced.

TREE NEWS reports: Wells Fargo is reportedly in talks with Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, to source liquidity for crypto trading at the bank. The discussions could lead to a deal in which Payward supplies that liquidity, though the arrangement may not materialize. The talks were reported by CoinDesk, citing two people with knowledge of the discussions.

TREE NEWS update: Samsung will let eligible US Galaxy users send USDC from Samsung Wallet to crypto wallets and bank accounts in more than 60 countries starting in late October. Bastion and Coinbase handle custody, while Solana and Sui serve as network partners. The feature covers roughly 82 million US Galaxy devices.

TREE NEWS update: Europol published two quantum computing reports on Wednesday, saying cryptocurrencies will not collapse but need a phased move to post-quantum cryptography. The agency urged crypto wallet providers to start testing post-quantum upgrades now rather than waiting for quantum threats to materialize.

TREE NEWS update: Sony plans to cease physical disc production in 2028, a move a former PlayStation executive says has caused reputational damage. The executive criticized the decision, asking, ‘What are you buying?’ No further details on the production timeline or affected platforms were provided.

TREE NEWS reports: Ethereum researcher Justin Drake urged crypto holders to move funds to unused addresses in a ‘bunker mode’ precaution against the possibility that advancing AI math could threaten cryptographic keys. Vitalik Buterin counseled against a scramble, and several critics pushed back on the call. The debate centers on whether AI-driven advances in mathematics pose a near-term risk to the encryption securing blockchain assets.

TREE NEWS update: Lido contributors have unveiled Lido Lend, a Morpho Blue fork designed for lower-risk lending, with the proposed market to be governed by the Lido DAO pending a governance vote. Launch is targeted for this quarter. The proposal would extend the Lido ecosystem from staking into lending.

TREE NEWS reports: Starknet said it is actively considering becoming a Layer 1 network, with 2027 set as the target for it to become the first fully quantum-resistant chain. The network is weighing the shift as it pursues post-quantum security for its infrastructure.