“You are going to see a lot of people coming out of the woodwork and trying to do something around this major event that is happening now in order for them to capitalize somehow and push an agenda or push a particular fork that comes out of this,” Anthony Di Iorio, one of Ethereum’s co-founders, told CoinDesk TV’s “First Mover” on Friday.

First Mover Americas: Countdown's On for Ethereum Merge, but Price Is Slipping Versus Bitcoin

Key Takeaways A wallet holding 225 million XRP sent 82.3 million to a newly created address at 00:30 UTC on Oct. 20.

Its 298 million XRP arrived between Nov. 2025 and Feb. 2026, when XRP mostly traded near $2.

With XRP at $1.30, the whale’s 225 million XRP sits about 37% below its average arrival value.

Following the Wallet

Whale Alert first flagged the move as a transfer between two unknown wallets; however, the XRP Ledger’s public history tells a longer story. The sending wallet’s trail, built from its onchain account record, is as follows:

Nov. 14, 2025: The wallet is activated by a funding address that also supplies all of its large deposits.

The wallet is activated by a funding address that also supplies all of its large deposits. Nov. 24, 2025: 73,179,840 XRP arrives, with XRP near $2.05.

73,179,840 XRP arrives, with XRP near $2.05. Dec. 4, 2025: 59.6 million XRP lands at about $2.20.

59.6 million XRP lands at about $2.20. Dec. 12, 2025: 73.9 million XRP at about $2.03.

73.9 million XRP at about $2.03. Jan. 12, 2026: 73 million XRP at about $2.08.

73 million XRP at about $2.08. Jan. 31 and Feb. 5, 2026: two smaller tranches of 9.27 million and 9.31 million XRP, as the price slid to $1.74 and then $1.52.

two smaller tranches of 9.27 million and 9.31 million XRP, as the price slid to $1.74 and then $1.52. May 20, 2026: 73,179,900 XRP goes back out to the funding address, almost exactly the size of the first deposit.

73,179,900 XRP goes back out to the funding address, almost exactly the size of the first deposit. Oct. 20, 2026: 82,314,668.8 XRP leaves for a fresh wallet that the same transaction created.

The last number (82,314,668.8046 XRP) is exactly the Jan. 12 deposit of 73 million plus the Feb. 5 deposit of 9,314,668.8046. Like the May withdrawal, this looks like specific lots being peeled off.

The Math at Today’s $1.30 Price

Using daily prices on each deposit date, the 298.3 million XRP that flowed in was worth about $613 million on arrival, an average of roughly $2.06 per token. Today XRP is trading at about $1.30.

Remaining across both wallets: About 225.1 million XRP, worth roughly $293 million now versus about $463 million at its arrival value.

About 225.1 million XRP, worth roughly $293 million now versus about $463 million at its arrival value. Paper drawdown: About 37%.

About 37%. Context: XRP’s 2026 range runs from a $2.35 high on Jan. 6 to a $0.99 low on Aug. 17, so this holder has sat through nearly all of it without selling onchain.

Those are arrival values, not proven purchase prices, since the coins came from another wallet rather than an exchange trade.

What to Watch

So far, traders aren’t treating it as a sell signal, especially since XRP started the week up 3% with 24-hour volume up 32% to $1.76 billion, and has since held around $1.30 (all while bitcoin’s price action has stalled near $82,000).

The key signal from here on out is whether the new wallet sends anything to an exchange deposit address. If those 82.3 million XRP stay put, it was most likely a custody shuffle. If they move to an exchange, the remaining 142.8 million XRP in the original wallet becomes the next thing to watch.

XRP Whale That Stacked Above $2 Just Moved 82 Million Tokens

Key Takeaways Ngrave traced approximately $2.56 million stolen from 70 wallet addresses across four blockchain networks.

Ngrave said its ZERO hardware remained secure while phishing victims surrendered wallet recovery credentials.

Ngrave’s CEO admitted the company had “absolutely and utterly failed” its fundamental security obligation.

A Fake Security Alert With a $2.56 Million Price Tag

Belgian hardware-wallet maker Ngrave, commonly known as NGRAVE, disclosed on Oct. 19 that attackers hijacked a third-party notification provider serving its LIQUID companion app. The breach allowed criminals to send authentic-looking security warnings directly to customers on Oct. 17. The message claimed a user’s portfolio had been synchronized with a Pixel 9 device in Moscow. Clicking the alert opened a counterfeit Ngrave website featuring a countdown timer and an ominous choice to approve or deny the suspicious activity.

Both paths led to the same trap. Users were prompted to enter their 24-word recovery phrase or Perfect Key, handing attackers everything needed to recreate their wallets. Automated scripts emptied compromised accounts within minutes. Ngrave’s investigation traced approximately $2.56 million stolen from 70 wallet addresses across four networks. Bitcoin accounted for $1.77 million, followed by $454,000 in XRP, $316,000 in Ethereum-based assets and $18,000 in Stellar.

Attackers Exploited Notification Keys, Not Hardware

The company’s incident report reveals that unauthorized access potentially began Oct. 11, six days before the fraudulent notifications appeared. Attackers obtained one access key and leveraged it to acquire another with broader permissions, including access to certain analytics information. Ngrave detected the malicious alerts within a minute of their appearance at 9:30 p.m. UTC on Oct. 17. Nevertheless, the first wallet was drained six minutes later.

The company disabled its notification system by 10:45 p.m., but thefts continued from previously compromised wallets until 3:51 a.m. the following morning. Crucially, Ngrave maintains its ZERO hardware wallets and private keys remained untouched. The criminals instead manipulated customers into surrendering their own credentials.

Ngrave CEO Admits Company ‘Absolutely and Utterly Failed’

The stolen funds traveled through exchanges, blockchain bridges, and fresh addresses. Ngrave traced bitcoin into 12 addresses, while XRP moved through 54 transfers. The company also acknowledged potential exposure of device information, wallet activity, IP addresses, and approximate locations, raising concerns about subsequent targeted scams.

The analytics firm Bitquery also published a report on the matter, noting that, in terms of the stolen funds, “most of it now sits on Hyperliquid as a Monero token.” The Bitquery report estimates around 81% found its way to the popular perps DEX exchange. In the incident report, Ngrave’s senior executive spoke on the matter.

Its CEO offered an unusually candid assessment, stating:

“In my humble opinion, the first duty of a crypto security company is to provide exactly that: security. In this, we have absolutely and utterly failed.”

He acknowledged that the company’s security posture was inadequate when he assumed leadership months earlier. Ngrave has since replaced compromised keys and outlined tighter notification controls, including two-person approvals, restricted domains and emergency shutdown capabilities.

Affected customers are being urged to establish fresh wallets and contact support. The investigation continues, leaving a troubling distinction intact: the hardware held firm, but the trusted messages surrounding it became the weapon.

It’s been a tough year for hardware wallet makers as 2026 has been riddled with security issues. Nearly a dozen documented hardware-wallet security incidents involving Ledger, Trezor, Tangem, Safepal, Bitbox02, and Coldcard. Reported losses exceeded $180 million across two incidents, exposing vulnerabilities in firmware, third-party vendors, physical security, and phishing, rather than direct remote attacks on recovery phrases.

Crypto Thieves Hijack Ngrave Alerts and Walk Away With $2.56M

Layer-1 blockchain Qubic has restarted its network and launched a recovery process after a wallet seed vulnerability allowed an attacker to drain roughly $1.4 million in QU tokens from 1,404 accounts, according to the project’s latest update.

Qubic’s blockchain explorer shows the network resumed processing ticks 8:00 pm on Oct. 19, advancing beyond tick 85,371,949, where it was halted on Sunday.

Qubic said its network validators, known as Computors, had approved a recovery plan and that the project had launched a claims platform for affected wallet holders.

Affected users can check their address and submit a claim through Qubic’s reclaim platform. Affected users have until May 1, 2027, to submit claims, according to Qubic.

The network was halted Sunday to prevent further movement of stolen funds after attackers exploited predictable wallet seeds generated by vulnerable wallet software.

The vulnerability affected wallet seeds generated using Qubic’s web wallet on certain Apple devices and browsers, where an insecure random-number generator could produce predictable seeds. Qubic on Sunday said it had fixed the seed-generation flaw in the latest version of its web wallet.

“If you created your wallet with the Qubic web wallet before version 4.26.4 (released 19 October), treat it as insecure, even if your funds were never touched,” said Qubic on Tuesday.

“Update to web wallet 4.26.4 or later, then create a new wallet,” said the team. “Move your funds to the new wallet as soon as you can, and never use the old one again.”

Related: Qubic freezes chain after attacker drains 1.4K wallets with weak seeds

Qubic Restarts Blockchain After $1.4M Wallet Hack

Utah Attorney General Derek Brown announced a lawsuit against Kalshi, its affiliates and two Susquehanna trading companies, alleging that the prediction markets platform had been facilitating illegal betting in the US state since 2024.

In a Tuesday press briefing, Brown said Utah officials had petitioned a court to compel the companies to return about $30 million to $60 million in profits they made through allegedly illegal event contracts. The Utah attorney general alleged that Kalshi illegally offered its services to more than 32,000 users in the state, resulting in significant losses.

“Under Utah law, I have determined that this operation is causing a significant and substantial ongoing harm to a significant number of Utahns,” said Brown. “And so today, we are asking the court to stop sports, elections, politics, culture and mention bets here in Utah.”

Kalshi sued Utah in February after lawmakers passed a bill on betting on prediction markets as gambling under state law. In August, a judge ruled in favor of Utah officials, saying federal laws under the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) do not preempt state gambling laws. An appellate court also denied Kalshi’s request for an injunction in September, blocking the platform from operating during its appeal.

Cointelegraph reached out to Kalshi for comment on the lawsuit but did not receive an immediate response.

Related: NFL backs New Jersey authorities in SCOTUS petition over Kalshi

Ongoing legal battles across the US

The civil lawsuit is one of many filed by US state authorities against prediction market platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket over alleged violations of state gambling laws, many involving sports betting. Officials in Arizona remain the only ones in the US pursuing criminal charges against Kalshi, but other states, including Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Nevada, Massachusetts, Wisconsin and New York, have filed civil suits against one or more prediction market companies.

The Utah lawsuit comes as the US Supreme Court considers whether to accept a petition to weigh in on New Jersey’s own case against Kalshi over allegedly illegal sports bets. The case, if accepted by the high court, could potentially resolve whether the purview of prediction market companies falls under state authorities or the CFTC, which claims “exclusive jurisdiction” over the platforms’ event contracts.

Magazine: Agents can trade 24/7 — but Yat Siu warns you could lose access at any time

Utah Officials to Seek Up to $60M from Kalshi in Lawsuit

Bitwise Asset Management and the Hyperliquid Policy Center are pressing the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to revise its proposed crypto rules, seeking clearer guidance on token classifications, airdrops and secondary-market trading in comment letters submitted Monday.

The requests come as the SEC closes public comments Tuesday on its proposed Regulation Crypto Assets, which would create exemptions for qualifying crypto fundraising and a conditional safe harbor for tokens associated with investment contracts.

In an Oct. 19 comment letter, Bitwise Asset Management urged the SEC to clarify how investment managers should determine whether a crypto asset is subject to securities laws, arguing that managers need a standard they can apply using “publicly available information.”

The firm also sought clearer rules on when managers can rely on an issuer’s proposed Form TR filing, which would certify that an investment contract has ceased to exist, and how they should assess tokens when no such filing exists.

Source: US Securities and Exchange Commission

In a separate submission, the Hyperliquid Policy Center urged the SEC to broaden its proposed safe harbor, arguing that it could come too late in a project’s development. The group called for clearer protections for airdrops that reward network participation, as well as guidance on token buybacks.

Hyperliquid also warned that the proposal “fails to provide clarity” on whether unregistered intermediaries can facilitate token trading or whether tokens can trade freely through onchain protocols. It urged the SEC to address secondary-market transactions directly rather than leaving exchanges and decentralized trading venues facing regulatory uncertainty.

Related: House Finance panel chair says regulator actions on crypto ‘fall short’ of CLARITY bill

SEC proposal faces legal and investor protection objections

While industry participants sought changes to the proposed rules, former SEC enforcement official John Reed Stark and Duke University finance scholar Lee Reiners took a different position altogether. In an Oct. 16 comment letter, they urged the commission to withdraw the proposal entirely, arguing that it exceeds the agency’s statutory authority and would weaken investor protections.

Stark and Reiners said that existing securities laws and the Supreme Court’s Howey test already provide a framework for regulating crypto offerings. They argued that the fundraising exemptions would weaken investor protections, while the proposed safe harbor would allow issuers to effectively remove their tokens from securities oversight through self-certification.

The two also warned that adopting the rules in substantially their current form would invite an immediate legal challenge, potentially resulting in the framework being struck down.

With the public comment period closing Tuesday, the SEC will review the submissions before deciding whether to revise, adopt or withdraw the proposed rules. The commission has not announced a timetable for a final decision, and any final rule would require a commission vote before taking effect.

Magazine: Can the SEC and CFTC’s pro-crypto rules be overturned? Legal opinion

Bitwise, Hyperliquid Challenge SEC Crypto Rule Framework

Crypto researcher Stacy Muur has identified 82 digital asset projects and protocols that have reportedly shut down in 2026, raising questions about the financial sustainability of businesses across decentralized finance, blockchain infrastructure and Web3 gaming.

The list, published on X on Tuesday, includes Balancer, Radiant Capital, Neon EVM and Step Finance, among dozens of others. Muur described the number of closures as unlike anything she had previously witnessed.

The shutdowns follow a prolonged bear market, with Bitcoin (BTC) retreating from its October 2025 record high above $126,000 to below $60,000 earlier this year, adding to the financial strain on projects already struggling to attract users and generate revenue.

Source: Stacy Muur

Ethereum layer-2 network Blast is among the most prominent casualties. As Cointelegraph reported, the project announced its shutdown earlier this month, citing no “credible path” to economic viability. The decision marked a sharp reversal for a network that once attracted more than $2 billion in deposits.

Other projects have encountered different problems. In February, Step Finance shut down following a major treasury breach, while Radiant Capital announced in June that it would wind down operations after failing to recover from a 2024 exploit. Meanwhile, Coinbase-backed Satori Finance ceased operations after concluding that its revenue could no longer support the business.

Related: $4.2B crypto bank Anchorage Digital cuts 17% of workforce: Report

Why are so many crypto projects shutting down?

Research published by DeFiLlama in August identified 100 crypto projects that had announced shutdowns in 2026, including 40 in the preceding 90 days. The findings suggest that many projects struggled to attract enough users or generate sufficient revenue to sustain operations.

The most commonly cited reason was a lack of product-market fit, followed by depleted funding, insufficient revenue and decisions to pivot to other products.

Collectively, the projects raised approximately $1 billion and generated $250 million in cumulative fees. Nine raised more than $50 million each, suggesting that substantial financial backing offered little assurance of long-term survival.

The most commonly cited reasons for crypto project shutdowns in 2026. Source: DeFiLlama

The closures come as crypto investment becomes increasingly concentrated. According to DeFiLlama, venture funding rose in the first half of 2026 compared with the previous year, even as the number of deals fell 80%. Meanwhile, mergers and acquisitions totaled 87 transactions at the time of the report, already 65% higher than the previous year.

Related: Crypto Biz: Wealthy investors are buying crypto, but their advisers aren’t sold

Crypto Shutdowns Surge as Funding and Revenue Dry Up

Research Hub Bespoke research, primers, and quarterly updates trusted by allocators and protocol teams.

AI agents are set to become a trillion-dollar market, CEO predicts

Strive, the Bitcoin treasury company led by chairman and CEO Matt Cole, closed its upsized initial public offering of SATS preferred stock on Oct. 20, raising $630 million gross, according to the company’s announcement.

The company has not specified how much of the proceeds it will use to buy Bitcoin (BTC).

Strive sold 7 million shares at $90 each. The company estimated net proceeds of $608.15 million after underwriting discounts, commissions and expenses, according to BitcoinTreasuries.net. In an SEC filing, Strive said it intended to use the funds for general corporate purposes, including Bitcoin purchases, working capital, income-generating assets, capital expenditures, share repurchases and acquisitions.

SATS carries a 15% annual dividend on its $100 stated amount, equivalent to $15 per share annually if paid in full. Dividends are cumulative and payable when declared by Strive’s board. At the $90 IPO price, the stated dividend represents an annualized amount equal to 16.67% of the purchase price.

At an illustrative Bitcoin price of $82,500, Strive’s estimated $608.15 million in net proceeds could purchase approximately 7,372 BTC before fees. If fully allocated to BTC, the purchase would increase Strive’s reported holdings from 36,818 BTC to roughly 44,190 BTC, potentially surpassing Metaplanet’s reported 44,000 BTC.

SATS dividends are scheduled to be payable each business day beginning Nov. 9, subject to declaration. The first payment, if declared in full, will include accruals dating from the Oct. 20 closing.

Strive chief risk officer Jeff Walton said the company has no debt or maturities and is focused on a single obligation: paying dividends.

Magazine: Made an ‘honest’ mistake with crypto taxes? New bill offers way out

Strive Raises $630M in Upsized Preferred Stock Offering

Blockchain network Injective has entered into a memorandum of understanding with South Korean digital asset custodian BDACS to bring a won-backed stablecoin to its tokenized asset markets, potentially allowing institutions to settle transactions without relying on US dollar stablecoins.

According to a Tuesday announcement, BDACS’s KRW1 stablecoin would serve as the exclusive won-denominated settlement asset for real-world assets (RWAs) on Injective, allowing institutions to trade and settle tokenized assets directly in Korean won.

BDACS says KRW1 is fully backed by Korean won reserves. Minting and redemption would initially be limited to approved institutional partners, subject to regulatory approval.

The agreement comes as South Korea develops rules for won-backed stablecoins under its proposed Digital Asset Basic Act, which the government aims to finalize by the end of 2026. In the meantime, the country’s five largest crypto exchanges recorded net stablecoin outflows for 18 consecutive months through June, according to industry data cited by Cointelegraph.

Injective is a layer-1 blockchain that has increasingly focused on tokenized assets. In August, its institutional services arm registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission as a transfer agent, allowing it to maintain ownership records and facilitate securities transfers. Injective’s native token has a market capitalization of roughly $887 million, according to CoinMarketCap data.

Related: China’s P2P stablecoin wallets surge 43x, Korea’s $450B crypto economy: Asia Express

South Korea moves toward won-backed stablecoin regulation

South Korea is still debating who can issue won-backed stablecoins as lawmakers work on the Digital Asset Basic Act.

A July policy report by Hashed Open Research and the Solana Policy Institute called for greater flexibility in stablecoin issuance and interim licensing guidance while the legislation is being developed. The proposed law would establish a broader framework for digital assets, covering stablecoin issuance, disclosures and market rules.

South Korea’s efforts follow the passage of the US GENIUS Act, which established a federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoins, and the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), which includes rules governing stablecoin issuers.

Industry data shows the stablecoin market remains overwhelmingly dollar-denominated, with US dollar-backed tokens accounting for more than 99% of the total supply.

Related: Mastercard launches stablecoin risk screening for banks and payment providers





Injective, BDACS Plan Korean Won Stablecoin for RWAs

Stablecoins moved more than $400 million an hour in adjusted transfer volume during the third quarter of 2026, as quarterly activity reached $891 billion, more than quadrupling since early 2023, according to a new report commissioned by Coinbase.

The report found that 73% of screened stablecoin transfer volume occurred outside US banking hours, including nights, weekends and holidays.

Distribution of stablecoin transfer volume by time of day. Source: Coinbase and The Block Research, via Dune Analytics

Seven of the 10 largest US banks have tested stablecoins or tokenized deposits for settlement, while 30% of mid-market companies conducting cross-border business are using or piloting stablecoins, up from 10% in 2024. Business-to-business payment volume also rose 36% year over year.

Conducted by The Block Research, the findings identified 293 million blockchain addresses holding stablecoins, exceeding the combined number of cards issued by American Express and Discover, though researchers cautioned that addresses do not necessarily represent individual users.

The report also estimated that moving 80% of international transactions onto stablecoin networks could add $155 billion to global GDP annually and free up roughly $3 trillion in liquidity currently held by banks to support cross-border payments.

Those projections are based on hypothetical adoption scenarios rather than observed economic gains. Researchers also acknowledged that widespread stablecoin adoption could reduce bank lending, potentially offsetting some of the benefits of faster and cheaper payments.

Related: Visa, Mesh partner to enable crypto spending at 175M merchant locations

Survey finds growing demand for crypto services at US banks

A separate survey released Monday by the National Cryptocurrency Association found that 42% of US adults, representing approximately 112 million people, would be more likely to open an account with a bank offering crypto services or use that institution for more of their financial needs.

The survey found that 18% of US adults would like to buy or use stablecoins through their primary bank or financial institution. However, 64% said their bank, credit union or financial advisor had never raised the topic of cryptocurrency, while 43% did not know whether their bank offered crypto services.

Americans’ interest in crypto banking services by demographic group.

Source: National Cryptocurrency Association, 2026 Crypto at the Bank Report

Stablecoin market cap remains flat despite rising transaction volumes

Despite increasing transaction activity, the stablecoin market capitalization stood at $301.42 billion on Tuesday, a decline of about 0.6% from $303.14 billion on Oct. 20, 2025, according to DefiLlama data.

Last week, Standard Chartered pushed back its forecast for the stablecoin market to reach $2 trillion from 2028 to 2030, citing slower supply growth. Citi, meanwhile, has projected a $1.9 trillion market by 2030 in its base case, with a bullish scenario reaching $4 trillion.

Magazine: Agents can trade 24/7 — but Yat Siu warns you could lose access at any time

Stablecoin Transfers Quadruple to $891B in Q3 2026

More companies are formally objecting to having tokenized versions of their shares available on the stock platform proposed by cryptocurrency exchange OKX and the New York Stock Exchange’s parent, the Intercontinental Exchange.

In a notice updated Monday, the joint venture between OKX and the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), called OKXICE, reported receiving 16 notices of issuer objection from companies including Microsoft, Google’s parent company Alphabet and Goldman Sachs. The objections did not include specific reasons for the notice to OKX, but one expert told Cointelegraph that they could relate to “not knowing what happens to their price” on the proposed platform.

Speaking to Cointelegraph on Tuesday, OKXICE co-chair and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that these notices were “not objections,” citing the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) “opening up to a global 24/7 marketplace.” He characterized objections as some companies standing on the side of a pool while letting others jump in and test the waters for OKXICE’s tokenized stock model.

Cuomo added:

“There are going to be a lot of companies that say ‘we don’t want to be the first, we wanna see how it goes’ [...] that is 100% to be expected, and there will be more.”

Cuomo said earlier this month, when OKX and ICE filed with the SEC, that the proposed tokenized stock trading platform would offer shares for more than 60 companies listed on US exchanges. Of the 62 proposed companies, about 25% have issued objections.

According to OKXICE, the proposed platform would operate 24/7 using permissioned Uniswap v4 liquidity pools deployed on XLayer. Each tokenized stock would be paired with one of three payment stablecoins: Tether’s USDt (USDT), Circle’s USDC (USDC) or Global Dollar (USDG).

Related: JPMorgan projects Bitcoin to outperform US stocks and gold over next decade

First Mover Americas: Countdown's On for Ethereum Merge, but Price Is Slipping Versus Bitcoin

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