Flash News

TREE NEWS update: Variational will launch its VAR token in the fourth quarter and allocate 32% of the supply as an airdrop, the protocol said. Points distributions will continue at 150,000 a week until the launch, while team and investor tokens are subject to a 12-month lock.

TREE NEWS update: Kalshi said the CFTC has not contacted it over nearly $5 billion in similarly sized Ether perpetual trades, activity the prediction market attributed to its liquidity incentive programs. The company rejected allegations that the trading was wash trading. Kalshi did not disclose when the trades occurred or the size of individual orders.

TREE NEWS update: Meta has launched a palm-sized 5G device designed to run Muse, the company said. No pricing, availability or technical specifications were disclosed. The device is the company’s latest hardware product tied to its Muse offering.

TREE NEWS reports: Cloudflare’s Will Papper said Ethereum’s original sharding design, abandoned because it was “way too difficult for DeFi,” could still work for stablecoin payments since “a dollar is a dollar.” Speaking on Unchained Premium, Papper said the company is looking for a blockchain capable of carrying internet-scale traffic.

TREE NEWS update: China Everbright Bank will halt its agency business for individual precious metals trading on the Shanghai Gold Exchange after Oct. 19, choosing its own timing. It joins ICBC, China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications, China Merchants Bank, CITIC Bank, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank and China Guangfa Bank in exiting the service this year. Banks said physical gold distribution and gold accumulation plans are unaffected, with gold ETFs and silver ETFs still available.

TREE NEWS reports: The United States is considering offering incentives for overseas stablecoins backed by the US dollar, a move that would extend Washington’s reach into dollar-denominated digital assets issued outside its borders. No specifics on the form of the incentives or a timeline were provided. The proposal centers on stablecoins whose reserves are held in dollars.

TREE NEWS update: SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda said the agency dropped many cases against crypto companies in early 2025 to avoid potential credibility problems in court. Uyeda, who served as acting chair, tied the wave of dismissals to concerns about how the enforcement actions would hold up before judges. The remarks describe the rationale behind the SEC’s retreat from several crypto lawsuits.

TREE NEWS reports: Bitcoin fell through the $86,000 cost basis of spot ETFs as total crypto market value dropped 2.27% to $2.96 trillion. XRP lost 5.8%, Dogecoin 8.3% and Hedera 9.9%, while Uniswap gave back its entire Tuesday spike on the CME listing. Perpetual funding at OKX turned negative on both bitcoin and ether swaps, and U.S. equities and gold closed lower.

TREE NEWS reports: The US cryptocurrency and crypto-linked equities index dropped 3.36% to 80.04 points, extending its decline. Over the past 24 hours, spot bitcoin fell 2.23% to $84,346.88, with a short, sharp drop around 22:00 Beijing time. Spot ether fell 2.92% to $2,673.16.

TREE NEWS update: Hsin-Ju Chuang, a former partner at crypto venture firm Hack VC and founder of Dystopia Labs, has been found dead at the age of 37. Chuang previously held senior roles at Stellar and Solana before joining Hack VC. No cause of death or further circumstances were given.

TREE NEWS update: The National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS) filed an amicus brief at the US Supreme Court backing New Jersey’s attorney general and gaming regulators in their bid to have the court hear their case against prediction market platform Kalshi. The petition, filed September 2, seeks to clarify whether states or federal agencies hold jurisdiction over prediction market firms. NCLGS warned a ruling for Kalshi would bar states from regulating sports betting on such platforms. Kalshi must file its response by November 9.

TREE NEWS update: US lawmakers from gaming states are pressing the Supreme Court to take up the case between New Jersey authorities and prediction market Kalshi. If the justices accept it, the outcome could clarify how state and federal officials treat sports bets. No ruling or filing date was given.

TREE NEWS update: trade.xyz said on X that event trading is now available on its platform. The announcement gives users a venue to take positions on event outcomes, though the post did not specify which events or markets are listed.

TREE NEWS update: The Cosmos Hub produced no blocks for 24 hours and 48 minutes before restarting, and 1.23 million ATOM has since been moved from the Neutron attacker’s wallet. The attacker bought voting power for 20,199 USDC and staked it 12 minutes before an expedited Neutron proposal closed.

TREE NEWS update: 21Shares listed Europe’s first Zcash exchange-traded product on September 22 on Euronext Paris and Amsterdam under the ticker ZCASH, with a 2.5% annual management fee and BitGo as custodian. The product physically holds ZEC, trades in euros in Paris and dollars in Amsterdam, and issued 5,000 units on day one at a net asset value of $20.04 each, for about $100,000 in assets. Grayscale’s Zcash ETF ZCSH holds nearly $890 million and will complete a 3-for-1 share split on September 30.

TREE NEWS update: 21Shares has listed Europe’s first Zcash exchange-traded product on Euronext Paris and Amsterdam this week, giving European investors direct exposure to ZEC. The listing marks the arrival of a Wall Street-style Zcash product in Europe as ZEC continues a banner year.

TREE NEWS update: The x402 Foundation has incorporated the Bitcoin Lightning Network payment specification into its open internet payment standard, allowing AI agents to pay for API calls, data, compute and MCP tools in satoshis. Originally developed by Coinbase, x402 lets agents complete payments automatically upon a “402 Payment Required” response without accounts or card details. The protocol is now governed by the Linux Foundation, with Cloudflare, Google, AWS, Visa, Mastercard, Stripe and American Express participating.

TREE NEWS update: Hut 8 has won a $140 million bid for Poolin’s two Texas data center sites, Pyote and Tarbush, covering cash and other consideration. The deal still requires approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. Hut 8 is expanding into AI infrastructure and has a development pipeline of roughly 8.7 gigawatts.