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According to The Defiant, SMBC Nikko Securities announced on October 2 that it has signed a memorandum of cooperation to develop a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform called "DeFi Gateway" aimed at Japanese investors.Participants include blockchain development company Nethermind, Uniswap Labs, the general incorporated association Nyx Foundation, and Coinbase Technologies, which operates the Ethereum Layer 2 network Base. The project will develop a liquidity provision protocol and proprietary liquidity pool, complying with Japanese laws and regulations, with plans to complete development by mid-2027.The cooperation mainly focuses on three areas of development: first, creating a "proxy vault" with verifiable and reproducible AI and an intuitive user interface; second, utilizing Uniswap v4's Hooks feature to build a compliant liquidity pool public framework that incorporates anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT) and investor protection mechanisms; third, developing asset management strategies covering digital assets such as stablecoins and real-world assets (RWA).The project is jointly led by SMBC Nikko Securities and Nethermind. SMBC Nikko Securities leads communication with regulatory agencies and provides compliance, risk modeling, and portfolio management expertise; Nethermind is responsible for technical design and development, including AI strategy and integration, smart contract security, as well as automated market making and Uniswap v4 Hooks strategies.

S&P Dow Jones Indices announced that the S&P MidCap 400 component Twilio will replace Warner Bros. Discovery in the S&P 500 Index; meanwhile, Vylor has been added to the S&P 500 Index.

Bitcoin Core contributor Peter Todd has joined the MARA Foundation as the chief maintainer of Slipstream. Slipstream is MARA's private Bitcoin mempool service, and the foundation announced this appointment on Thursday. Todd will be responsible for the development and operation of this service.Slipstream allows users to send Bitcoin transactions directly to the MARA Pool without going through the public Bitcoin peer-to-peer network. Since transactions sent via Slipstream remain private before block confirmation, this service helps to conceal key information before confirmation, avoiding the exposure of public keys. The service played a role after hackers exploited a vulnerability in the Coldcard hardware wallet to steal over $115 million in user funds in July this year.MARA's Slipstream first gained attention in 2024 for releasing large Ordinals inscriptions and has recently been used in research projects such as Quantum Safe Bitcoin and Binohash. Todd is a long-time Bitcoin Core contributor, co-author of BIP 125 (replace-by-fee), creator of OpenTimestamps, and launched Libre Relay in 2024. He believes that mempool policies should follow what the market wants miners to package, rather than restricting how people use Bitcoin.

Founder of Strategy Michael Saylor posted that he hopes Strive and all well-managed "Bitcoin-driven digital credit" issuers achieve success.Strategy is built on the same foundation as Strive: BTC belongs to digital capital, STRC and SATA belong to digital credit, and MSTR and ASST belong to digital equity. The securities structures and decisions of both parties are independent, although they will compete for individual capital allocations, they can also jointly expand long-term market opportunities.Saylor cited SIFMA data stating that by the end of 2025, the global stock market value will reach $157.8 trillion, and the fixed income debt balance will reach $160.7 trillion, with 0.1% of either market being approximately $160 billion.He proposed a threefold amplification mechanism: corporate financing to purchase supply-constrained Bitcoin can increase demand and improve the asset coverage of related companies; more issuers launching digital credit products can accumulate research, trading, and liquidity foundations, reducing the premium investors demand due to unfamiliarity, and potentially narrowing credit spreads and financing costs; more companies proving that this model can operate in different market environments may enhance market recognition of digital equity.He also emphasized that a single purchase does not guarantee Bitcoin appreciation, Bitcoin itself does not pay interest, and the profit margin between long-term asset returns and financing costs must be obtained through disciplined management; more issuers will not automatically lead to higher valuations.This model depends on a robust capital structure, prudent liquidity, transparent disclosure, and useful products. Weak issuers may undermine confidence in the entire category, while more credible issuers can meet institutional diversification investment needs and attract funds that would not otherwise enter the category.

Former Dragonfly partner Omar Kanji announced his official joining of the alternative investment management platform Brevan Howard, serving as the Head of Growth Investments for its digital asset business and Portfolio Manager, and will continue to be based in New York. Previously, Omar Kanji announced his departure from Dragonfly on September 1, concluding a four-year term.

According to The Block, Polymarket has appointed former Goldman Sachs partner Lisa Mantil as Head of Institutional Growth.It is reported that Mantil will be responsible for products, infrastructure, and liquidity related work aimed at investment managers, banks, and corporate trading desks.

According to Fortune, AI real estate technology company EliseAI announced that it has completed a new round of financing of $350 million, with a valuation of $4 billion. Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Bessemer Venture Partners jointly led the investment, with existing investors Sapphire Ventures and Navitas Capital participating.This is the fourth time the company has received investment from a16z and Bessemer since 2023, just about 13 months after its previous round of $250 million Series E financing.It is reported that EliseAI's software currently mainly provides automated rental for homes, tenant services, maintenance requests, and lease renewals, covering about one-sixth of apartments across the United States. This new financing will be used for product development and to expand EliseAI's engineering, deployment, and sales teams in North America.

Martin Carrica posted on X that after four years of working on regulated stablecoin-related projects with the stablecoin issuer Mountain Protocol and the licensed crypto institution Anchorage, he will join Coinbase as the head of stablecoins, responsible for expanding the distribution and influence of stablecoins.Martin Carrica stated: Stablecoins are the most transformative financial product, and although they have achieved significant success, their current scale is still relatively small. He will focus on promoting the scalable development of this technology.

According to Gate market data, database company MongoDB announced that its President and CEO Chirantan "CJ" Desai has resigned, effective immediately, to take an executive position at Meta Platforms. As a result of this news, MongoDB's stock plummeted 15% in pre-market trading.

According to the Washington Post, the United States and Russia have jointly removed the clause regarding "human oversight" from the global AI weapons treaty.

Bitcoin News posted on the X platform that Block has joined the x402 Foundation and is providing Bitcoin Lightning Network support for the AI agent-oriented open payment standard x402.x402 embeds payments directly into HTTP, allowing AI agents to autonomously pay for goods, services, and other agent tool fees. Block stated that the Lightning Network is suitable for the billions of instant, low-cost micropayments expected to be generated by the agent economy.

According to official news, Tether, corporate and institutional bank Pave Bank, and the Singapore non-profit organization GFTN (Global Financial and Technology Network) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on September 24, 2026, to jointly explore the launch of the "Georgia-Singapore FinTech Scholar Program."The program aims to select outstanding STEM undergraduates from Tbilisi State University to study for one semester at Singapore Management University starting in 2027. The content will cover academic courses, industry exchanges, mentorship, and a graduation project focusing on the Georgia-Southeast Asia FinTech corridor. Participants will also have the opportunity for internships with partner organizations and access to GFTN's global knowledge network resources.Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that this collaboration aims to open global opportunities for young talent and help build a more inclusive financial future.

The six major banks in Canada announced a joint exploration of a tokenized Canadian dollar deposit system, aimed at accelerating the transfer of funds between financial institutions and ultimately connecting with other digital asset programs. TD Bank announced on Tuesday that the Bank of Montreal, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, National Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Canada, Scotiabank, and Toronto-Dominion Bank Group have jointly formed this joint venture project, with the possibility of more banks joining in the future.The first phase of the project will focus on promoting the transfer of tokenized deposits among participating banks. The parties stated in a joint statement that the first phase aims to enable efficient circulation of tokenized deposits among Canadian financial institutions, with the long-term goal of connecting with other emerging digital asset programs. Tokenized deposits are digital representations of funds and assets already held by banks, differing from independent stablecoins issued by crypto companies; this system allows for 24/7 programmable payments within a regulated banking system.Canada's move comes as global banks compete to put deposits on the blockchain. In the United States, regional banks are building a shared tokenized deposit network, while JPMorgan, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo have also launched their own institutional products. Recently, Swift has begun testing cross-border payments for tokenized deposits. Additionally, the Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Canada, and Toronto-Dominion Bank completed the Project Samara test in March this year, issuing, trading, and settling CAD 100 million (approximately USD 71 million) bonds on a distributed ledger; in May, Shopify and National Bank of Canada also supported the launch of a regulated digital Canadian dollar.

From September 22 to September 28, five major projects under TRON ECO—SUN, JUST, WINkLink, BitTorrent, and AINFT—launched the "Moonlight Tarot: Reveal Your Exclusive Identity" Mid-Autumn Festival themed event. Users can choose the tarot identity card that best fits them, tag the corresponding project, and include a reason that combines the characteristics of that project's products. At the same time, tag three friends and include the topic #TRONECOMoonTarot to participate.The event sets up 25 popularity awards for tarot (TRON ECO exclusive peripheral gift packages) and 10 lucky tarot signs (TRON ECO doormats), totaling 35 gifts. As the moon is full, the card array is open, and five identities await to be claimed—whether you are the "Trader" who excels in efficient trading, the "Alchemist" skilled in asset operations, the "Insightful" one connecting on-chain and off-chain, the "Communicator" enthusiastic about spreading information, or the "Architect" building AI Agents, you can find your role in this Mid-Autumn Tarot journey.Bring the topic and reveal your identity card, and celebrate a Mid-Autumn Festival with TRON ECO that is filled with cards, gifts, and surprises.

Cardano has joined the official x402 software development kit, allowing developers to enable applications or AI agents to use ADA or Cardano network tokens to pay for online services. x402 transforms the basic idle "402 Payment Required" response in web pages into a checkout process built into internet requests: the service provider returns the price and payment instructions, the agent signs the payment, and after transaction verification, the required data or computing power can be obtained.This means that AI agents can purchase individual datasets on demand when preparing reports, without the need for manual account registration, entering credit card information, or subscribing to monthly fees. x402 was created by Coinbase in 2025 and subsequently contributed to an organization under the Linux Foundation, with members including Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, Google, and Amazon Web Services. Solana, XRP Ledger, and several Ethereum-compatible networks have previously supported this standard.Engineers from the Cardano Foundation have built client and server software for payment requests based on the specifications passed in June, as well as a facilitator responsible for verifying and submitting transactions. The first version supports TypeScript, with Python support planned for later release. Facilitator documentation shows that it has completed a real transaction on the Cardano pre-production network, but it has not yet run on the mainnet, nor has it demonstrated scenarios where agents use ADA to pay for commercial services on a large scale.

According to Forbes, a warning jointly issued by multiple agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National Police Agency (NPA) of Japan indicates that the North Korea-linked hacker group WaterPlum (also known as Contagious Interview) will launch attacks on global IT developers from December 2025 to July 2026 by disguising itself as companies in the AI, cryptocurrency, or NFT sectors and offering fake job positions.Attackers contact job seekers on social media and recruitment platforms, luring them into downloading malicious files under the pretext of technical interviews or programming tests. They successfully infected over 30,000 devices, covering more than 100 countries and regions, and stole data from over 7,000 cryptocurrency wallets. Related funds of at least $10.71 million have flowed into wallets controlled by the attackers.

Google announced that Nobel Prize winners Philippe Aghion and Ajay Agrawal have joined the company to expand its artificial intelligence and economics team.

a16z and DeFi Education Fund (DEF) submitted a proposal to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on September 14, suggesting a "safe harbor" from exchange registration requirements for eligible decentralized exchanges (DEX) and their front-end applications (DEX Apps).The proposal suggests that eligible DEX should possess four characteristics: non-custodial, automated, permissionless, and trustlessly neutral; DEX Apps should maintain non-custodial status, present market data based on objective and verifiable parameters, not exercise discretion over trade execution, and limit developer activities to specific technical functionalities.

Robinhood co-founder and CEO Vlad Tenev stated that Robinhood Chain is rapidly developing, with the new team launching products every week, and the ecosystem is becoming more integrated.Tenev expressed to developers that if they are engaged in on-chain development, Robinhood wants to hear their voices and welcomes more developers to join the construction of the Robinhood Chain ecosystem.

Danielle Beck posted on X that she has joined HyperliquidPC as the Director of Government Relations. She stated that after working for over a decade in the intersecting fields of policy, agriculture, commodities, and advocacy, she looks forward to applying her relevant experience to new challenges.She mentioned that there is room to shape the development of on-chain markets in the United States and that the relevant policy framework should be clear, feasible, and informed by the people and industries that rely on the market. She also stated that she will collaborate with the HPC team, including Jake Chervinsky, Adam Minehardt, Salah Ghazzal, Brad Bourque, Golovina, and Sianna Bird.