Flash News

TREE NEWS update: The US SEC has approved Cboe to list binary options contracts tied to listed companies’ key performance indicators, covering more than 100 metrics across 23 companies, including Coinbase trading volume, MARA bitcoin production and Robinhood customer counts and revenue. Robinhood expects to be the first broker to offer the product to retail investors and said it will waive commissions through year-end. Cboe and Robinhood had planned an October launch; no specific date has been announced.

TREE NEWS update: Industry-aligned organizations are pushing for summary judgment on the merits against Illinois’ 0.2% tax on crypto assets, after state officials already agreed to a six-month pause on implementation. The groups argue the merits of the case rather than the delay. No ruling date was given.

TREE NEWS update: US federal prosecutors said Abdulrahman Alfawzan, a Saudi citizen accused of secretly planting recording equipment in an OpenAI executive meeting room, had booked one-way tickets from San Francisco to Saudi Arabia for himself, his wife and another family member before his arrest. In an October 8 filing, prosecutors said the tickets were booked for October 12, routing through Istanbul, and asked the judge to seal the complaint and arrest warrant; the request was granted and Alfawzan was arrested on October 9. The Justice Department says he has been in custody since.

TREE NEWS update: Patrick Witt has left his position as the White House’s top crypto adviser, ending his tenure in the administration’s digital-asset policy role. The departure comes as the Clarity Act, a market-structure bill for digital assets, remains stalled. No successor or effective date was disclosed in the material.

TREE NEWS update: US Senate Democrat Elizabeth Warren said bank executives, including those at Bank of America (BAC), should be held accountable for legal violations. The statement did not identify specific banks, executives or alleged conduct. BAC shares are referenced in the material.

TREE NEWS update: Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, has agreed to acquire Lithuania’s Saldo Bank, which reported €196.9 million in assets at the end of June. The deal is expected to close in 2027, subject to regulatory approval. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

TREE NEWS update: Patrick Witt has left his role as executive director of the White House crypto council after his secondment term expired, the White House confirmed by email. An official thanked Witt for his contributions to the Trump administration and wished him well. The confirmation followed three unanswered inquiries over the past week about whether Witt still held the post.

TREE NEWS update: Sberbank has won approval to trade Bitcoin under Russia’s new crypto law, holding both custody and exchange status. The state-owned lender plans to bring Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT to apps used by 110 million retail clients.

TREE NEWS update: Chief executives of major aerospace companies including Boeing and GE Aerospace met with US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to discuss streamlining regulatory approval for new aircraft and parts. The administration wants to speed up airworthiness certification to spur innovation and compete internationally, with executives sharing which parts of the current system work and which do not. The FAA has proposed a new rule aimed at cutting approval costs and time.

TREE NEWS update: The EU has classified Circle’s USDC as a “significant” e-money token under MiCA, placing the second-largest stablecoin by market cap under the oversight of French and EU authorities. The designation triggers stricter supervisory requirements for the issuer. Circle has not commented on the classification.

TREE NEWS update: Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said he “briefly” discussed how to resolve a number of issues, adding that the bank takes the Trump administration’s orders seriously and will address the latest regulatory fines exposed. “We are responsible for everything the company does,” Moynihan said. He did not specify which issues or penalties he was referring to.

TREE NEWS update: Brooklyn prosecutors and the FBI seized 112 servers and shut down 241 websites tied to crypto investment scams targeting Russian-speaking Americans, authorities said. The network stole tens of millions of dollars from victims. The operation dismantled the infrastructure behind the fraudulent investment schemes.

TREE NEWS update: Kalshi CEO said prediction markets make it easier to identify bad actors, defending the platform as insider trading concerns mount. The head of one of the largest prediction market platforms characterized such conduct as committing a crime in broad daylight. The remarks come as scrutiny of trading activity on prediction markets intensifies.

TREE NEWS update: Standard Chartered has received regulatory approval in Dubai to offer Bitcoin and Ethereum trading to affluent clients, letting them buy BTC and ETH directly from their bank accounts. Custody and settlement will be handled in-house by the British bank.

TREE NEWS update: The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said nine of the largest US national banks maintained policies that may have denied or restricted services based on political or religious views or lawful business activity, including digital asset firms, between 2020 and September 2025. JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citi, Wells Fargo, US Bancorp, Capital One, PNC, TD Bank and BMO were named in the review, which examined nearly 100,000 complaints and about 420,000 pages. OCC head Jonathan Gould said he was not confident the banks’ recent remediation was sufficient.

TREE NEWS reports: The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said in a report that debanking efforts were tied to crypto activities, grouping them with ties to oil, gas and firearms. The banking regulator’s report did not include specific examples of debanking related to crypto.

TREE NEWS reports: Standard Chartered global head of digital asset research Geoffrey Kendrick pushed back his forecast for the stablecoin market to reach $2 trillion, from 2028 to 2030. Stablecoin supply is about $309 billion and has held between $300 billion and $320 billion over the past 12 months. Kendrick called the stalled growth cyclical, not structural, while average monthly on-chain transfer volume neared $10 trillion this year, with a record $19 trillion in May.

TREE NEWS update: The European Banking Authority has designated USDC, issued by Circle Internet Financial Europe SAS, as a significant e-money token under MiCA — the first token to receive the label among 45 EMTs notified in the EU. From November 12, 2026, prudential supervision of USDC’s own funds, reserve assets, liquidity requirements and recovery and redemption plans moves from France’s ACPR to the EBA, while the ACPR retains oversight of governance, qualifying holdings, outsourcing and conflicts of interest.

TREE NEWS update: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the World Bank should lift its ban so that upstream oil and natural gas projects can receive financing. The call, made by the top US economic official, targets a restriction on lending for fossil-fuel exploration and production. No timeline or mechanism for changing the policy was given.

TREE NEWS reports: Richard Heart, founder of Hex and PulseChain, has been detained in Istanbul. Police reportedly seized $4 million and 64 watches in connection with the detention. Turkish police have not yet confirmed Heart’s detention. Heart is the founder of the Hex token and the PulseChain network.