OpenAI Brings GPT-5.5 To API As Claude Opus 4.7 Rivalry Sharpens

Bitcoin and Ethereum extended their losses on October 15 after hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data rattled financial markets, triggering nearly $1 billion in cryptocurrency liquidations as leveraged traders faced another wave of forced selling. Bitcoin fell toward $80,000, trading around $81,000 after retreating from levels above $83,000 before the inflation release. Ethereum suffered heavier losses, dropping more than 6% over 24 hours to approximately $2,365. The sell-off followed the October 14 release of September's Consumer Price Index (CPI), which showed annual...

Standard Chartered has launched cryptocurrency trading for affluent clients in the United Arab Emirates, allowing eligible investors to buy and sell Bitcoin and Ethereum directly through their existing bank accounts. The October 14 launch marks the bank's first cryptocurrency trading offering for wealth clients globally and the first such service introduced by an international bank in the UAE. The offering has received licensing approval from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) and initially targets customers classified as Professional Investors. Transactions,...

Michael Saylor's Strategy has acquired another 250 Bitcoin and repurchased approximately $192 million of its STRC preferred stock, continuing to deploy capital across its cryptocurrency treasury and securities repurchase programs. The October 12 corporate disclosure puts Strategy's total holdings at 848,250 BTC as of October 11, alongside approximately $5.5 billion in combined U.S. dollar reserves and deployable cash. The latest Bitcoin purchase cost $21.5 million, with $21 million funded through sales of MSTR common shares and another $500,000 drawn from...

South Korea's Jeonbuk Bank has executed a corporate loan backed by Bitcoin, while Bulgaria's First Investment Bank (Fibank) is preparing to introduce cryptocurrency investments to more than one million customers through a partnership with Bitpanda Enterprise. The developments bring digital assets into two established banking activities: secured corporate lending and retail investment distribution. Jeonbuk Bank has already completed a Bitcoin-collateralized transaction, while Fibank's offering is scheduled to launch in early 2027. Jeonbuk Bank Executes Bitcoin-Backed Corporate Loan Jeonbuk Bank, a...

Abstract, the consumer-focused Ethereum Layer 2 backed by Pudgy Penguins parent Igloo Inc., will shut down on December 15, 2026, ending a nearly three-year effort to build a blockchain around consumer crypto. Users must move their assets before the deadline through Abstract’s official Migration Hub or native bridge. Assets remaining on the network after December 15 will become inaccessible. The native bridge currently carries an expected withdrawal delay of roughly three hours. The October 6 wind-down notice also warned users...

Ledger has patched a vulnerability in its Ethereum hardware-wallet app that could allow a malicious dApp to replace a transaction during the approval process while the device continued showing users the transaction they originally reviewed. Security firm TestMachine disclosed the signature-substitution flaw on August 21 after reproducing it on Ledger hardware. Ledger had already shipped Ethereum app version 1.22.2 on August 12, with its release history listing security fixes for the update. Malicious dApp Could Change the Transaction Before Signing...

Base creator Jesse Pollak has pushed back against criticism that Coinbase is selling ETH while benefiting from Ethereum, pointing to the exchange’s roughly 150,000 ETH corporate position and years of investment across the network. Pollak argued that Coinbase has held about 150,000 ETH through multiple market cycles, while describing the company as the largest ETH holder outside dedicated digital asset treasury companies by a wide margin. Coinbase’s latest regulatory filing backs up the scale of that position. The company held...

A crypto user lost 1,010 ETH after following an old Tornado Cash bookmark into a phishing frontend that captured the private withdrawal credentials needed to access the deposited funds. The victim deposited the ETH into legitimate Tornado Cash contracts, but the malicious interface obtained the private note generated during the process. The attacker then used those credentials to withdraw the assets within roughly 12 hours without compromising the underlying Tornado Cash smart contracts. Phishing Frontend Targeted Private Withdrawal Notes Tornado...

A crypto trading bot is a chain of dependencies. It reads a position, prices it, decides, places an order, and confirms settlement. Every one of those steps is an API call, and a failure at any single step stops the strategy. The provider choice shapes what a bot can actually do more than the strategy logic does. The common mistake is searching for one API that covers everything. No such API exists in 2026. Market data providers do not route...

Polymarket and Kalshi helped turn prediction markets into a mainstream trading category, but neither platform fits every trader. Access varies by country, market selection can lean heavily toward certain topics, and the tools available for entering, managing, and automating positions differ sharply across platforms. The strongest alternatives are not identical copies. Some emerging prediction markets platforms focus on professional order controls, some concentrate on fast crypto and financial markets, and others use onchain infrastructure or play-money forecasting. Users unfamiliar with...

A funded crypto trading account gives a trader access to more notional capital after they prove they can follow a firm’s risk rules. The usual route starts with a paid crypto prop firm challenge that requires a profit target without breaching daily or overall loss limits. Passing is not only about making money. Drawdown control, minimum trading days and rule compliance determine whether the account survives. The evaluation fee can be lost, and crypto prop firms use different account models,...

Tokenized stock perps allow traders to take long or short exposure to companies, ETFs and equity indexes through crypto-native derivatives markets. Positions can use stablecoin collateral, remain open without an expiry date and continue trading when the main stock exchange is closed. The trader receives price exposure, not ownership of the referenced shares. The interface often looks identical to a crypto perpetual futures market. The risk does not. A stock-linked contract can remain active overnight, through weekends and during holidays...

World, the digital identity project co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, has launched a World ID suite for banking and finance, introducing identity verification tools designed to protect financial institutions against AI-generated impersonation, fraudulent transactions and unauthorized account access. Unveiled by co-founder Alex Blania at Money20/20 in Las Vegas on October 18, the offering combines a dedicated identity wallet, real-time verification for Zoom meetings and cryptographic credentials that AI agents can use when acting on behalf of verified individuals. Bain...

MSCI has finalized new eligibility rules that could remove Michael Saylor's Strategy (MSTR) and Japan's Metaplanet from its Global Investable Market Indexes, potentially triggering billions of dollars in passive fund selling. The decision introduces broader restrictions on companies classified as non-operating businesses, following months of consultation over whether Bitcoin treasury companies belong in traditional equity benchmarks. The changes will take effect with MSCI's November 2026 Index Review. Strategy and Metaplanet have not yet been formally removed. An earlier MSCI simulation,...

Binance will permanently discontinue Binance Pool and its associated mining services on November 10, 2026, ending support for mining connections, cloud mining products, savings accounts and transaction acceleration features. The shutdown takes effect at 07:00 UTC, when Binance will disable mining endpoints and stop accepting new hashrate submissions. Miners must redirect their equipment to alternative pools before the deadline to avoid interruptions. The October 13 closure notice covers Binance Pool, Pool Savings, Cloud Mining, Transaction Accelerator, Telegram hashrate alerts, email...

Netflix is bringing the collapse of FTX to television with The Altruists, an eight-episode limited series centered on Sam Bankman-Fried and former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison. The streaming company released the first full trailer on October 8 and set November 19 for the global premiere. All eight episodes will become available on the same day. Anthony Boyle plays Bankman-Fried, while Julia Garner takes the role of Ellison. The series follows their personal relationship alongside the rise of FTX and...