3iQ's Abu Dhabi step is in-principle approval, not a licence
3iQ Middle East Ltd has ADGM in-principle approval for a Category 4 licence. The FSRA has not issued a Financial Services Permission, and preconditions remain.
Desk
Digital Assets
Crypto exchanges, tokenisation, custody and stablecoins from the industry side.
571 stories since 2021 · page 4 of 29
October 2026
Sberbank joins Russia's digital-currency exchange register
Sberbank joined the digital-currency exchange register on 12 October. December 1 is the bank's plan, not the regulator's date, and 11 firms are now listed.
Blur will deprecate its NFT frontend on November 12
Blur will deprecate its NFT frontend on November 12, 2026. The on-chain protocol and fee switch stay live, while Blend stops matching new loans the same day.
Shardeum applies the v1.1.0 plan at height 7,927,860
Shardeum applied v1.1.0 at block 7,927,860 on October 13. Public blocks show a 12-minute gap, not the halt of one to two hours venues were told to plan around.
XRP Ledger skipped its vote to close a 2015 mint bug
The XRP Ledger closed a 2015 overflow in xrpld 3.4.1 without an amendment vote. The advisory found no public exploit, and source code lagged the binary.
DATA Network to retire its chain in a $30m Sui deal
Sui Foundation is investing $30 million in DATA Network and taking the largest institutional stake as the protocol retires its chain for Sui. No date is set.
DGLD opens one-ounce PAMP gold on Solana via SwissBorg
DGLD, one fine troy ounce of allocated PAMP gold, is now native on Solana through SwissBorg. New tokens use their own bars, not a bridged Ethereum supply.
Samsung Wallet sets late-October USDC on US Galaxy phones
Samsung Wallet will open USDC transfers for eligible US Galaxy users in the last week of October. The 82 million figure counts compatible devices, not accounts.
Rain National Trust Bank files an OCC charter
Rain National Trust Bank applied to the OCC on October 5, 2026 for a trust charter to custody assets and issue stablecoins, not to take deposits or make loans.
Soda Labs raises $3m seed for on-chain privacy
Soda Labs raised a $3 million seed funded entirely by NextBlock to scale Bubble, its GC-MPC privacy layer, on public chains including Ethereum and COTI.
FNB share accounts gain VALR crypto that cannot leave
FNB opened VALR-partnered crypto inside existing share accounts. Coins cannot move to an external wallet, and the bank ties that fence to exchange control.
Cactus Custody launches Swiss custody; the audit stays in Asia
Cactus Custody's Swiss custody service keeps keys in Switzerland via ChainTech AG. Audit reports and OneDegree cover still apply only to Hong Kong and Bhutan.
Xverse closes Draper-led round for a Bitcoin neobank
Xverse has closed a Draper Associates-led round, with Trust Machines and Draper Dragon, to build a self-custodial Bitcoin neobank. No amount was disclosed.
Ether.fi moves neobank payments onto MoonPay's stack
Ether.fi is moving its neobank payments onto MoonPay, from fiat ramps to virtual accounts. September card spend was $123.7 million, the companies said.
DeFi Development authorizes CHAD buybacks, but not yet
DeFi Development's board authorized buybacks of every CHAD share, including future issues, but will not buy until the preferred first reaches its $10 par.
Ripple Prime to finance and clear Brevan Howard funds
Ripple Prime will finance and clear Brevan Howard funds, yet October 6 disclosed no line size. The only sized debt is the prime broker's facility and notes.
Polymarket Protocol V2 will not auto-convert CTF positions
Polymarket Protocol V2 canaries run through October 30, with a tentative November 2 switch for new markets. Existing CTF positions do not auto-convert.
Treasury sanctions France-based Hamas crypto fundraisers
OFAC sanctioned two France-based charities and three people on October 2, 2026 after cryptocurrency moved through a Hamas network of more than $2 million.
Circle's terms can delay a European USDC redemption
Circle's terms can delay a European USDC redemption when reserves cannot cross a border. MiCA still pays at par, at any time, and keeps 30% of funds in banks.
FinCEN withdraws the unhosted-wallet rule and the 2023 mixer plan
FinCEN withdrew the unhosted-wallet rule and the 2023 CVC mixing proposal on October 5. The $10,000 report and the section 311 finding will not take effect.
