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  1. 1

    Bitcoin falls toward $81,000 after hotter-than-expected US September inflation revives Fed hike bets

    Annual inflation accelerated more than expected in September, with consumer prices up 0.6% on the month and 3.7% on the year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. Core inflation also beat forecasts, reviving bets that the Federal Reserve, which raised rates in September for the first time in more than three years, could hike again as soon as October. Bitcoin fell, though accounts differ on how far. CoinDesk reported a $1,000 drop to $82,800, Quartz said it shed as much as 2.3% to about $81,500, and TradingView put the intraday low between $80,350 and $80,500. TradingView also dated the slide to October 8, while CoinDesk and Quartz placed the drop on Wednesday.

    Key facts

    • Over $485 million in crypto positions were liquidated within one hour, TradingView said.
    • Liquidations topped $1 billion over 24 hours, with longs accounting for $930 million to $1.05 billion, TradingView said.
    • Markets had expected a Fed pause at the next meeting and a hike in early December, CoinDesk said.
    • The 2-year Treasury yield jumped 13.1 basis points to 4.924%, CoinDesk reported.
    • Brent crude surged to $105 as Middle East tensions escalated, TradingView said.

    Commentary

    This reads more as a macro shock than a crypto one: the dollar's climb to its strongest since May 2025 points to traders pricing tighter policy. Thin liquidity and crowded long positioning, analysts said, amplified the slide. Until inflation data or Fed guidance shifts, bitcoin looks likely to keep trading on rate bets.

    Sources: CoinDesk, TradingView, Quartz

  2. 2

    Russia's Central Bank Licenses Sberbank to Trade Crypto

    Russia's central bank has added Sberbank, the country's largest lender, to its register of crypto exchange operators, Interfax reported. The October 12 approval came six days after Sberbank was listed as a digital depository. Together the two statuses let the bank buy and sell crypto in its own name and with its own money, and keep records of client holdings. Sberbank said its depository status would let it offer crypto services to clients, but says its launch timing depends on central bank decisions and secondary regulations. In January 2022 the central bank had proposed banning crypto outright over financial stability threats, and paying for goods with it remains illegal.

    Key facts

    • Sberbank plans to launch Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT on December 1 in SberBank Online, SberInvestments and SberBusiness.
    • Non-qualified investors face a 300,000-ruble annual cap per intermediary and a mandatory knowledge test.
    • The ruble cap is about $3,800 per Decrypt but $3,556 per Bitcoin Magazine.
    • Deputy Chairman Anatoly Popov forecasts crypto trading in Russia could reach 4 trillion rubles in the regime's first year.
    • Sberbank ended the second quarter with 110.6 million retail clients.

    Commentary

    The notable part is who controls the channel: the central bank keeps retail access bounded while routing it through its largest lender, which will sit on the other side of customer trades. Buyers carry the constraints while the bank holds the trading role, which suggests the channel will widen only as fast as the central bank's secondary rules allow.

    Sources: Decrypt, Bitcoin Magazine

  3. 3

    Standard Chartered opens Bitcoin and Ether trading to wealthy UAE clients

    Standard Chartered has launched a crypto trading service for wealthy clients in the United Arab Emirates, letting them buy and sell Bitcoin and Ether from their existing bank accounts without separate wallets or third-party platforms. The London-based lender said it handles custody and settlement itself in a closed-loop model meant to limit external wallet risk. Samir Subberwal, the bank's global head of wealth solutions, said client interest in digital assets is growing. Rola Abu Manneh, CEO for the UAE, Middle East and Pakistan, said the country was a natural choice given its regulatory environment. The move builds on institutional spot trading that began in the UK in July 2025 and reached the UAE in September 2026.

    Key facts

    • Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) approved the Standard Chartered launch.
    • Access is initially limited to clients classified as professional investors.
    • The bank says it is the first international bank to offer crypto trading in the UAE.
    • Bitcoin was trading at $81,831, down 2.16% over the past day.
    • Ether was trading at $2,418, down 4.11% over the past 24 hours.

    Commentary

    The real change is that clients now own the coins rather than products that track them, having previously held crypto through indirect routes such as funds, structured products and derivatives. Clients are swapping outside providers for reliance on the lender's own systems, which makes its operational reliability the test that matters most.

    Sources: Yahoo Finance

  4. 4

    Software engineer sues BitMEX owner for £20m over alleged unauthorised UK derivatives sales

    Lewis Barber, a software engineer, has filed a High Court claim seeking £20m from HDR Global Trading Limited, which owns BitMEX. He alleges the exchange offered derivatives to UK investors without Financial Conduct Authority authorisation, and that under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 such contracts are void, entitling consumers to recover any bitcoin lost. Barber says he lost bitcoin trading them between 2018 and 2022. A BitMEX spokesperson said no such claim had been served. Barber's lawyers at Seladore Legal say he may be one of thousands of non-professional UK investors who sustained heavy losses, and that other UK-based people may have entered similar contracts.

    Key facts

    • The FCA issued a warning around 3 March 2020 that BitMEX may have traded regulated investments in the UK.
    • BitMEX closed voluntarily on 23 September 2026 after a strategic review of its business.
    • BitMEX pleaded guilty in 2024 to Bank Secrecy Act violations and was required to pay $100m (£75m) in January 2025.
    • Investors' multimillion-dollar class action in New York alleges bitcoin theft and insider trading; the claims are vigorously denied.
    • Ben Delo, a BitMEX cofounder, made a record £36m donation to Reform UK.

    Commentary

    What moved here is the legal theory: the claim rests less on the trading losses than on the argument that unauthorised contracts are void, which turns losses into a restitution bill. Lawyers say that bill, if Barber succeeds, could run into hundreds of millions of pounds, so the closure of BitMEX may not end its exposure.

    Sources: The Guardian

  5. 5

    Bitcoin miners and crypto stocks fall as hotter US inflation drives broad selloff

    US stocks fell sharply on Wednesday after inflation data came in hotter than expected. Technology and AI infrastructure companies were hit hardest, with CoreWeave, Nebius and Oracle among the leading decliners. San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly told Reuters further rate hikes were likely needed but there was no urgency to act this month. Several Bitcoin miners, which have also expanded into AI infrastructure, fell sharply too. Coinbase, Circle and Strategy declined, and cryptocurrency-themed ETFs plunged. Quiver Quantitative suggested CleanSpark's 9.1% fall may reflect its $2.276 billion notes deal and lower bitcoin holdings. Bitwise's Matt Hougan said high inflation and energy prices are constraining global liquidity.

    Key facts

    • US consumer prices rose 3.7% in September from a year earlier, above the 3.6% expected.
    • The Nasdaq Composite fell 1.9%, its biggest one-day drop since July 23.
    • The implied probability of an October Fed rate hike briefly exceeded 50% before retreating.
    • Bitcoin fell as much as 2.3% to around $81,700, nearing the low end of its recent range.
    • Bitcoin miner TeraWulf fell 12.64%, the largest decline among miners with stated figures.

    Commentary

    Miners and crypto ETFs fell harder than bitcoin, suggesting investors trade them as debt-funded AI data-center exposure rather than as crypto. Many of those firms borrow heavily, so the rate outlook bears on them directly. The October Fed decision, not bitcoin's price, points to the next test for these shares.

    Sources: TradingView, Moomoo, Quiver Quantitative

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