Flash News

TREE NEWS update: Russia plans to ban direct peer-to-peer cryptocurrency trades from July 1, 2027. Separate rules already in force prohibit transfers from digital accounts to self-custody wallets. The measure targets direct transactions between individuals, extending the state’s restrictions on moving crypto assets outside regulated venues.

TREE NEWS update: Nasdaq has proposed rules that would immediately suspend and delist listed companies whose market value stays below $5 million for 30 consecutive days, aiming to curb pump-and-dump manipulation in small-cap shares. US domestic small businesses object that the one-size-fits-all threshold could catch otherwise healthy but volatile companies, hurting their financing. The SEC paused the proposal last month and will seek further public comment. More than 190 Nasdaq-listed companies are valued at $5 million or below, nearly half of them headquartered in the US.

TREE NEWS reports: The SEC and CFTC have issued a raft of pro-crypto rules recently, but a legal opinion published this week asks whether those rules will hold up in court and whether they can be easily rolled back by the “anti-crypto army”. The analysis focuses on the durability of the agencies’ recent rulemaking rather than any single enforcement action.

TREE NEWS update: Crypto.com Exchange launched Predict Pro, a prediction-markets product for US users, offering a live order book, probability charts, risk management and portfolio trading tools. The offering is provided by Foris DAX, an introducing broker registered with the National Futures Association, and trades CFTC-regulated prediction contracts from OG.com Markets. Users can combine two to six predictions into a single position across elections, sports, crypto prices, Federal Reserve decisions, climate and culture.

TREE NEWS update: The European Banking Authority has classified Circle’s USDC as the EU’s first “significant” e-money token, a designation that triggers stricter supervisory requirements under the bloc’s crypto rules. New supervisory responsibilities tied to the classification begin Nov. 12.

TREE NEWS update: Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour said the real choice facing the industry is between regulated U.S. prediction markets and offshore alternatives, speaking days after the CFTC moved to write event contracts into its swap rules. Mansour also argued that public order flow makes misconduct easier to catch, citing George Santos.

TREE NEWS update: Wyoming-chartered bank N3XT, founded by former Signature Bank executives, has joined Clear Markets’ Collateralizer network to hold U.S. dollar collateral for trades on Clear Markets’ CFTC-registered swap venue. The arrangement supports round-the-clock dollar derivatives collateral.

TREE NEWS reports: Tether payments reportedly began in May 2025, while Bo Hines was leading the White House stablecoin effort, with the first payment going to an intermediary’s marketing company before reaching Hines’ firm. The payments were routed through a marketing middleman.

TREE NEWS update: Payward, the owner of crypto exchange Kraken, has signed a deal to acquire Saldo Bank, a Lithuania-licensed lender, giving it a foothold in European Union banking. The acquisition would allow Payward to offer interest on deposits and loans in Europe. Closing is expected in 2027.

TREE NEWS reports: Turkish outlets reported Wednesday that HEX founder Richard Heart and his wife were taken into custody in Istanbul at Finland’s request. No official has confirmed the detention, and reported seizure figures differ between accounts. Heart, who also created PulseChain, has faced securities litigation in the United States.

TREE NEWS update: Patrick Witt has stepped down as head of the White House Crypto Council, leaving a leadership gap at the advisory group. His departure marks the fourth high-profile exit from the council. No successor was named in the announcement.

TREE NEWS update: Brooklyn prosecutors have taken down 112 servers tied to a crypto scam targeting Russian speakers, the operation also ran a fake recovery service that contacted victims weeks later promising to retrieve their stolen crypto. The takedown dismantles infrastructure behind a scheme that combined the original fraud with a follow-up con aimed at the same victims.

TREE NEWS update: Thailand’s new Bitcoin and Ether ETF rules take effect Friday, opening the market to crypto fund listings. CoinShares expects only modest initial inflows, saying existing investment options will compete for demand. The firm’s read suggests a slow start rather than a surge of capital into the newly permitted products.

TREE NEWS reports: Bill Gates is preparing to significantly expand his AI safety initiative, personally lobbying corporate executives and considering committing substantial personal resources, Axios reported on October 15, citing people familiar with the matter. Gates, previously optimistic about AI, has shifted toward concern as model capabilities grow, safety incidents mount and he deems regulation inadequate. He has consulted widely with AI executives, researchers and safety advocates, including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei.

TREE NEWS update: Yao Yuping, former Party Committee member and deputy head of ICBC’s Shenzhen branch, has been expelled from the Communist Party of China, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission announced on October 15. The disciplinary inspection team stationed at ICBC and the supervisory commission of Jiangmen city, Guangdong province, investigated Yao for serious violations of discipline and law.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Ministry of Commerce opened a public consultation on the EU’s trade and investment policies ahead of the WTO’s 16th Trade Policy Review of the bloc, scheduled for December 8 and 10, 2026. The review will examine EU policy shifts since 2023 and their impact. Companies, industry associations and research institutes have until November 15 to submit written or electronic comments to the ministry’s WTO department.

TREE NEWS reports: Hyperliquid founder Jeff Yan said regulatory obligations should fall on financial firms operating markets on the Hyperliquid blockchain rather than on the blockchain itself, in an interview on Bloomberg’s “Odd Lots” podcast published October 15. Bloomberg said the distinction would let Hyperliquid expand into Wall Street without carrying the full compliance burden of a traditional exchange, as US regulators weigh how to bring offshore trading venues into the domestic financial system.

TREE NEWS update: South Korea’s Financial Services Commission will introduce stricter cybersecurity assessments after a sector-wide review found flaws at 130 of 555 financial companies, exposing roughly 100,000 customer records including names, contact details and resident registration numbers. The overhaul follows investigations into earlier security incidents at 16 firms, among them crypto exchange operators Streami, which runs Gopax, and Prabang, which disclosed a hack on October 2. Large institutions would face at least two vulnerability assessments a year.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Oct. 15 that Beijing will make a firm and necessary response if any economies take measures under the pretext of “overcapacity” that harm Chinese interests. The statement came at a regular press conference in Beijing, after the ministry responded on Oct. 9 to a joint statement on “structural overcapacity” led by the United States.

TREE NEWS reports: China’s 10-year government bond yield fell to 1.64% as of October 14, near a record low, as long-dated bond trading heated up this week. Several brokerages and banks received targeted reminders from regulators demanding stronger risk management on bond investments. Market participants expect the central bank may take macroprudential measures against institutions with aggressive trading behavior.