Flash News

TREE NEWS update: World has launched “World Money,” a self-custody super app that bundles stablecoins, Stripe, Kalshi and Morpho integrations, with World ID verification unlocking boosted rewards. The app is self-custodial and connects to Stripe for payments, Kalshi for prediction markets and Morpho for on-chain lending. Users who verify through World ID receive enhanced rewards.

TREE NEWS update: XPeng chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng said the company is in talks with more automakers and non-automakers on technology and chip cooperation, and is discussing further collaboration with Volkswagen. New overseas partnership cases may be announced at next month’s Paris auto show, with deals possibly landing in the fourth quarter, he said.

TREE NEWS update: Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, has developed Arc, a new layer-1 blockchain designed specifically for stablecoin-native finance. The network is positioned around stablecoins as the core unit of account and settlement asset rather than as one application among many. Circle has not disclosed a launch date or further technical details.

TREE NEWS reports: Blockworks has cut its crypto risk alert time from roughly 10 minutes to 5 seconds using AI agents, co-founder Jason Yanowitz said. Manual analyst checks previously took about 8 minutes per development, while the new agent alerts arrive in 5 seconds.

TREE NEWS update: Crypto.com CEO said its sister exchange OG.com has been cleared by the SEC to offer US access to single-stock perpetual futures. The approval makes OG.com the latest platform bridging traditional finance and digital assets. No launch date or further terms were disclosed.

TREE NEWS update: S&P Global has agreed to acquire blockchain security firm OpenZeppelin, which will continue operating as a standalone business unit under the ratings and data group. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition marks a further push by S&P Global into onchain security infrastructure.

TREE NEWS reports: US stocks opened higher, with the Nasdaq up 1.5% and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up nearly 3%. Generac surged about 31% after Amazon received warrants to buy up to $340 million of its stock, while Nebius gained about 10% after saying it will raise GPU cloud pricing by an average of 20% from October 1. Storage-chip and optical-communications shares also rose broadly.

TREE NEWS reports: Bitcoin treasury companies promise amplified returns over holding Bitcoin alone, but the trade-off is steeper downside risk. The companies’ approach raises the question of whether the potential upside justifies the risk exposure they take on.

TREE NEWS update: Tesla’s team arrived in Ningbo on Sept. 16 and began a new round of supplier audits for its robot business on Sept. 17, aimed at mass production of the Optimus robot. The audit is intended to verify the exclusivity and consistency of Optimus production, including helping suppliers with equipment debugging and migrating manufacturing capabilities from Tesla’s US factory.

TREE NEWS update: Marvell Technology, Microsoft and Utimaco are set to launch a payment security platform, the companies said. The three partners are combining their capabilities for the joint offering. No financial terms, launch date or further details were disclosed.

TREE NEWS update: The SEC has released its long-awaited innovation exemption, which the agency frames as a way to bring America’s capital markets into the digital age. The measure is positioned as a response to the Senate’s failure to advance crypto legislation. No further details on the exemption’s scope or effective date were given.

TREE NEWS update: S&P Global has agreed to acquire blockchain security platform OpenZeppelin. OpenZeppelin says its smart contracts have facilitated more than $37 trillion in value transfers. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

TREE NEWS reports: A hacking group is demanding $3 million in Monero from Revolut and threatening to sell stolen customer data, saying it scanned the blockchain to pick Revolut accounts holding significant crypto. The extortion attempt targets the UK fintech’s crypto-holding customers, with the group claiming it selected its victims by on-chain analysis of wallet balances.

TREE NEWS update: Crypto.com has registered with the SEC to offer single-stock futures, CEO Kris Marszalek said, adding that the company is also working with the SEC and CFTC to offer single-stock perpetual futures in the U.S. The filing marks the exchange’s push into U.S. equity derivatives.

TREE NEWS reports: German crypto adoption is advancing through family offices and wealth managers, while the UK’s retail-facing cryptocurrency market remains “nascent,” a CoinShares researcher said. The researcher said the UK is falling “behind” Germany in building out crypto adoption. The comments contrast institutional uptake in Germany with a less developed retail market in Britain.

TREE NEWS reports: Crypto majors turned green and leading altcoins rallied after the FOMC delivered its first rate hike since 2023, while the Clarity Act failed to pass. The market’s positive reaction came despite both the tighter monetary policy and the stalled digital-asset legislation.

TREE NEWS reports: Zcash rose double digits Thursday and 168% over the past month, closing in on $1,400 after coinholders voted to keep the privacy coin’s Bitcoin-style halvings as part of the NU7 upgrade. The NU7 upgrade vote was the catalyst for the rally.

TREE NEWS reports: North Korea-linked hackers drove a 420% surge in onchain malware, using Tron, Aptos and BNB Chain to maintain their infrastructure, Chainalysis found. Suspected Iran-linked actors embedded operational directions inside Bitcoin transactions. The report attributes the rise in blockchain-based malware networks to state-sponsored groups.

TREE NEWS reports: Grayscale’s Zach Pandl said bitcoin has bottomed near $58,000, and the firm has given clients a “green light” to allocate. Pandl, who oversees research at the crypto asset manager, is treating the recent low as the cycle trough and signaling that Grayscale now sees an entry point for client capital.

TREE NEWS reports: Zcash rose about 20% in 24 hours after Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang disclosed that the firm invested in ZEC, amid a broader crypto market rally. The gain marks a sharp move for the privacy-focused coin, which has drawn renewed attention from institutional investors. Huang did not disclose the size of the investment.