October 26, 2026 · Crypto & Web3 Daily Digest
A digest of crypto, regulation, and Web3 developments for October 26, 2026, with summaries, links, and commentary.
I. Regulation and Policy
1. Consumer groups and California's regulator object to the SEC crypto fundraising exemptions (Regulation)
Summary:
American Banker reported on October 26, 2026, that the comment period on the SEC proposal "Regulation Crypto Assets" closed on October 20, and that the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, Better Markets, and Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund criticized the two offering exemptions for weakening investor protection and questioned both the SEC's authority and whether agency rules can last like an act of Congress. The draft allows a one-time offering of up to $5 million over four years, or up to $75 million in each 12-month period with ongoing reporting for the larger exemption, plus a conditional safe harbor under which a qualifying crypto asset would no longer be treated as an investment contract, and it limits separate state registration of offerings that qualify for the federal exemptions. Better Markets asked the SEC to withdraw the proposal and cited a 2025 FBI internet-crime report in which cryptocurrency complaints accounted for the highest reported losses, more than $11 billion across 181,565 complaints, while Coinbase's letter asked the SEC to raise the startup exemption from $5 million to $20 million over four years and to remove the $75 million second-tier cap for issuers that provide audited financial statements.
Links:
- American Banker — SEC crypto fundraising rules face consumer-group pushback
- SEC — Regulation Crypto Assets proposal
Commentary:
The comment window is already closed, and Monday's news is the objections from consumer groups and a state regulator, while the exemptions and the safe harbor remain a proposal.
2. The CFTC chair restates a voluntary federal registration path for exchanges, with comments due December 14 (Regulation)
Summary:
crypto.news reported on October 26, 2026, that Chairman Mike Selig wrote on X, alongside a Bloomberg TV interview, that crypto markets deserve the protections long applied to U.S. derivatives markets and that, while Congress has yet to legislate, the CFTC is advancing a voluntary federal registration pathway for crypto exchanges. The pathway matches the October 5 advance notice covering Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions (CTX) and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets (CAM), which relies on section 2(c)(2)(D) of the Commodity Exchange Act and concerns retail crypto commodity transactions offered with leverage, margin, or financing; the notice does not put a final rule into effect. crypto.news says the notice appeared in the Federal Register on October 13, with comments due December 14, 2026, and reports the agency's preliminary view that an offer of leverage can bring transactions into the framework even when the customer does not actually borrow, while a spot-only exchange that makes no covered leverage offer can remain state-licensed, subject to anti-fraud and anti-manipulation authority.
Links:
- crypto.news — CFTC advances voluntary crypto-exchange registration as Congress stalls
- Bloomingbit — Selig says the CFTC is pursuing voluntary federal registration for crypto exchanges
Commentary:
Monday adds the chair's public statement. Registration remains a voluntary consultation open through December 14, and state-licensed spot trading is not converted into a mandatory federal license.
3. The OCC encourages community banks to apply as payment-stablecoin issuers (Stablecoins)
Summary:
CoinDesk reported on October 26, 2026, that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Monday urged community banks to enter the stablecoin market, including by applying directly or through subsidiaries to become permitted payment-stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act, and said the opening complements its Community Bank Comeback initiatives. Bulletin 2026-51, dated October 21, says that issuing a payment stablecoin in the United States generally requires permission from January 18, 2027, that issuing without permission can be a criminal offense, and that an issuer with a substantially complete application pending by that date may request a waiver in writing for up to 12 months from that date. The bulletin also says the OCC will start accepting applications after the Office of Management and Budget approves the related information collection and will announce the opening in a press release.
Links:
- CoinDesk — OCC calls on community banks to enter the stablecoin payments market
- OCC — GENIUS Act waivers and application guidance, Bulletin 2026-51
Commentary:
Monday's invitation puts community banks on the list of possible issuers. The filing window still waits on federal paperwork approval, and the January 18, 2027 permission date is unchanged.
4. Hong Kong's SFC approves round-the-clock secondary trading in two tokenized money-market funds (Tokenization)
Summary:
On October 26, 2026, the Securities and Futures Commission said it had approved the first secondary trading of tokenized public funds on an SFC-licensed virtual-asset trading platform, and that the ChinaAMC HKD Digital Money Market Fund and the ChinaAMC USD Digital Money Market Fund began around-the-clock trading that day. The arrangement follows the pilot framework in the circular of April 20, 2026, covering the trading channel, fair pricing, liquidity provision, and disclosure. Elisa Ng, the SFC's executive director of investment products, said the launch puts that framework into practice and adds 24/7 trading to Hong Kong's tokenization stack. ChinaAMC's October 23 exchange filing says that from about October 26 the Class F tokenized shares of the two funds can trade on the secondary market of PantherTrade, operated by Panthertrade (Hong Kong) Limited, while primary dealing continues under the prospectus.
Links:
- Hong Kong SFC — first secondary trading of tokenized public funds
- HKEX news — ChinaAMC Digital OFC secondary-trading notice
Commentary:
Monday opens secondary trading in the Class F tokenized shares of two already authorized money-market funds, and any wider product list still depends on how the SFC reads the trading that follows.
5. Xinhua: China aims to largely complete a national blockchain network by 2030 (Policy)
Summary:
Xinhua reported on October 26, 2026, that a five-year digital-development plan issued by the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission calls for largely completing a national blockchain network by 2030 and for launching commercial 6G at an appropriate time. The document raises the expected internet penetration rate from 80.1 percent in 2025 to 85 percent in 2030 and the number of 5G base stations per 10,000 people from 34 to 50, while the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology projects information and communications industry revenue of 4.1 trillion yuan, about $615 billion, by 2030. Cointelegraph said the same day that the national informatization plan was published Friday, with deeper blockchain use in trade and finance in the Yangtze River Delta and scaled deployment in manufacturing and agriculture in the Chengdu-Chongqing region, and that the network target was already in the national development plan released in March, with a joint Communist Party and State Council policy on October 9 also calling for the buildout.
Links:
- Xinhua — China proposes largely establishing a national blockchain network by 2030
- Cointelegraph — China sets 2030 for its national blockchain-network buildout
Commentary:
Monday's wire is the infrastructure timetable inside the informatization plan. The text itself was published Friday, and it does not rewrite the rules for crypto trading.
II. Markets and Major Assets
6. Bitcoin slips under $80,000 and returns to about $80,400, with the Fed decision due Wednesday (Markets)
Summary:
A CoinDesk market story from the early hours of October 26, 2026, said bitcoin fell nearly 2 percent to about $79,800 in the Asian morning, ether fell nearly 3 percent to just above $2,300, XRP fell about 3 percent to $1.28, and Solana fell about 2 percent and was barely holding $100. A follow-up at 7:24 a.m. Eastern time said the price dipped to about $79,300 during the Asian morning and then was little changed near $80,400 since midnight UTC. Jeff Mei, chief operating officer of BTSE, said traders were already cutting risk below $80,000 and that the focus is whether Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh hints at a December rate increase; CME FedWatch showed about a 90 percent chance of no change on Wednesday and about an 80 percent chance of another increase in December, and Farside Investors data cited by CoinDesk showed $138 million of spot-bitcoin ETF outflows on Friday and a two-day exit of $772 million. The morning story put Brent about 2 percent lower from a six-month high, near $114 a barrel, while the later story put U.S. crude near $101 and Brent around $110, and said bitcoin needs to reclaim $82,500, the level lost last Thursday, before buyers can treat the drop as a pause.
Links:
- CoinDesk — Bitcoin holds near $80,000 as oil retreats and the Fed decision looms
- CoinDesk — Bitcoin slips under $80,000 as traders de-risk ahead of the Fed meeting
Commentary:
Eighty thousand dollars was lost and bought back in the same session, and the repair landed before Wednesday's rate decision and the December hike odds are resolved.
7. The DeFi index is the only CoinDesk index higher as Uniswap and Ethena absorb Hayes's weekend sales (DeFi)
Summary:
CoinDesk reported on October 26, 2026, that the DeFi index was the only CoinDesk index to gain, with Uniswap up 1.9 percent and Ethena up about 1 percent, after Arthur Hayes said his Maelstrom fund had sold its entire directional book, including 6,400 ether, because of macro and geopolitical risk, and after a Saturday sale of 323,000 UNI and 14 million ENA. Crypto futures open interest rose 0.85 percent to $139.9 billion over 24 hours, while liquidations fell 71 percent to $153 million; ENA open interest rose 16.85 percent against an 8.36 percent price gain, then fell 2.04 percent in the latest hour. One-month bitcoin skew eased from about 14.5 percent to about 12.5 percent, so puts still cost more than calls, and the busiest contract was the October 28 put struck at $77,000.
Links:
Commentary:
The bounce in DeFi tokens overrode the weekend-sale headline, and the busiest listed option was still a bitcoin put struck below the spot price.
III. Institutions and Stablecoins
8. Bernstein: Robinhood prediction-market revenue could top crypto revenue by 2028 (Institutions)
Summary:
Cointelegraph reported on October 26, 2026, that a Bernstein forecast shared with it on Monday puts Robinhood's prediction-market revenue at as much as $1.7 billion in 2028, up from about $650 million this year, above a projected $1.6 billion of crypto-related revenue that year and equal to about 18 percent of a projected $9.4 billion in total 2028 revenue. The forecast landed the day before Robinhood's third-quarter 2026 results. Bernstein expects that quarter's revenue to rise 13 percent from the prior quarter to about $1.5 billion, driven by equity notional volume, options, event contracts, and a recovery in crypto trading volume.
Links:
Commentary:
This is a pre-earnings revenue forecast that places event contracts ahead of crypto trading fees, and the third-quarter figures still depend on the company's own release.
9. Coinbase starts converting on-platform GYEN to USDC at the market rate on October 26 (Stablecoins)
Summary:
Coinbase's help center says issuer GMO-Z.com Trust is winding down the yen stablecoin GYEN, and that Coinbase will convert all GYEN held on the platform to USDC from October 26 through October 30, 2026, at the market rate at the time of conversion, with no transaction fee, while sends and receives are disabled on October 26 and later deposits may not be recoverable and will not be converted. Customers who do not want the exchange conversion had to move tokens to a compatible self-custody wallet before October 26. A GMO Trust reminder dated October 20 says the initial redemption period ends at 23:59:59 Eastern time on November 11, 2026, that eligible account holders can redeem at par, 1 GYEN for 1 yen, with no redemption fee charged by the issuer and a 100 GYEN minimum, and that a swap into USDC on a third-party venue is an exchange and does not deliver par value.
Links:
- Coinbase Help — token delistings and migrations, including the GYEN conversion
- GMO-Z.com Trust — about three weeks left to redeem GYEN and ZUSD
Commentary:
Today closes Coinbase transfers and starts the market-rate conversion. The issuer's par redemption stays open through November 11, and the two paths pay out under different rules.
IV. Security
10. A third-party module bug at Bloom moves about 9,408 SOL (Security)
Summary:
Bitcoin.com and TokenPost reported on October 26, 2026, that Bloom, a trading bot covering Solana and EVM networks, said the day's attack used a remote-code-execution flaw in a third-party module and moved about 9,408 SOL from 49 wallets belonging to nine users, with Bloom's investigation valuing the loss at about $947,000 and earlier on-chain estimates near $954,000. Bloom said private keys were not compromised, that unaffected wallets remain safe, that it will reimburse the stolen funds in full to secure wallets designated by the users, and that all systems are offline. Bitcoin.com, citing on-chain monitors, put the largest single transfer at 1,636 SOL, about $166,000, and the company has not given a reimbursement deadline or a restart time, while advising affected users to move remaining assets to newly generated wallets.
Links:
- Bitcoin.com — Solana trading bot hacked, 49 wallets drained for nearly $1 million
- TokenPost — Bloom blames a third-party remote-code-execution bug for a $947,000 theft
Commentary:
The full reimbursement covers 49 addresses controlled by nine users. The bot stays offline until service returns, and the exact path that authorized the transfers is still for the company to spell out.
Today's Summary
- After the SEC's Regulation Crypto Assets comment period closed on October 20, consumer groups and California's regulator publicly objected on October 26 to the two fundraising exemptions. The CFTC chair restated a voluntary federal registration path for exchanges, with comments due December 14. The OCC encouraged community banks to apply as payment-stablecoin issuers, with the permission date still January 18, 2027.
- Hong Kong's SFC approved around-the-clock secondary trading, starting today, in ChinaAMC's Hong Kong dollar and U.S. dollar tokenized money-market funds, with Class F shares on PantherTrade. Xinhua reported the same day that the cyberspace commission's plan aims to largely complete a national blockchain network by 2030.
- Bitcoin fell to about $79,300 to $79,800 in the Asian morning and later returned to about $80,400. CME's tool showed about a 90 percent chance the Fed holds on Wednesday and about an 80 percent chance of a December increase. Spot bitcoin ETFs saw $138 million of outflows on Friday and $772 million over two days.
- Coinbase disables GYEN transfers today and converts balances to USDC at the market rate through October 30. The issuer's par redemption stays open through November 11. Bloom said a third-party module flaw moved about 9,408 SOL from 49 wallets belonging to nine users and promised full reimbursement.
Daily Framing:
In this crypto cycle, today was a "license invitation and $80,000 tug-of-war" day: consumer groups objected to the SEC exemption draft, the OCC invited community banks to issue payment stablecoins, Hong Kong opened round-the-clock secondary trading in tokenized money-market funds, and bitcoin returned to about $80,400 after losing $80,000, with the next price marker left to Wednesday's Fed decision.
This digest is compiled from real-time search results and is for reference only.