In this week’s edition of the weekly recap, Binance has reported a $6.3 billion breach, the Federal Reserve has held interest rates steady, and the CFTC has advanced plans for voluntary crypto exchange registration.
Summary
- Binance pledged to cover customer losses after reporting a $6.3 billion security breach.
- The Fed held rates at 3.75%–4.00%, with two officials voting for another hike.
- The CFTC continued developing voluntary exchange registration while Congress’s market-structure legislation remained unfinished.
- Coinbase reported $719 million in quarterly profit, largely supported by unrealized cryptocurrency investment gains.
- Tether posted $1.5 billion in quarterly operating profit and nearly $8 billion in excess reserves.
Binance pledges to cover losses after $6.3 billion breach
Binance said its Oct. 29 breach affected approximately $6.3 billion, with partners freezing roughly $3 billion in assets. The exchange promised to cover customer losses using its SAFU fund and company resources.
Its preliminary investigation pointed to a compromised DevOps engineer’s laptop that may have enabled unauthorized withdrawals. Binance said it found no evidence that wallet private keys leaked. TRM Labs attributed the attack to North Korea’s TraderTraitor group, an assessment Binance had not confirmed.
Fed holds rates after September hike
The Federal Reserve kept its benchmark range at 3.75%–4.00% on Oct. 28, following September’s quarter-point increase. Lisa Cook and Beth Hammack opposed the pause, favoring another 25-basis-point hike in a 10–2 decision.
Policymakers described economic growth as strong and inflation as elevated. Bitcoin traded near $80,800 at the time of the announcement.
CFTC advances voluntary exchange registration
CFTC Chairman Mike Selig said the regulator was developing voluntary federal registration for crypto exchanges using existing powers while Congress had yet to enact market-structure legislation.
The consultation concerns leveraged, margined, or financed retail crypto transactions, with safeguards addressing listings, customer funds, and conflicts. Comments are due Dec. 14. The advance notice seeks feedback before potential rulemaking and does not establish a completed registration framework.
Coinbase profit rebounds despite weaker revenue
Coinbase reported third-quarter revenue of $1.22 billion, down 35% year over year, alongside $719 million in net income. Unrealized cryptocurrency investment gains contributed $715 million, while adjusted net income was $78 million.
The company said prediction markets surpassed $200 million in annualized revenue and average USDC holdings reached a record $22 billion.
Tether builds reserve cushion to $7.95 billion
Tether reported $1.5 billion in third-quarter net operating profit and $7.95 billion in excess reserves, up from roughly $4.1 billion at June’s end.
Its announcement put reserve assets at $191.45 billion against $183.50 billion in liabilities. Direct and indirect U.S. Treasury bill holdings totaled $132.4 billion, with Treasury bills and reverse repos providing most operating income.
DTCC launches securities tokenization service
DTCC launched a tokenization service for securities held in DTC custody, with 20 financial institutions signing access agreements, including JPMorgan, Citi and Fidelity Investments.
The service is integrated with Canton and DTCC’s private Besu network. Stellar integration is expected in the first half of 2027.
ICE backs planned Hyperliquid futures venue
NYSE owner Intercontinental Exchange partnered with trade[XYZ] to develop a regulated U.S. perpetual futures venue on Hyperliquid and make a strategic investment in the company.
The proposed market would support round-the-clock trading across several asset classes. Its launch remains subject to CFTC approval, with no launch date announced.
Bitcoin ETFs collect $440.8 million over four sessions
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs received $440.8 million across Oct. 26–29, according to Farside Investors, with BlackRock’s IBIT accounting for $410.6 million.
Thursday’s net inflows slowed to $17.2 million. The four-session total excludes Friday’s trading response to the Binance breach.
Aviva brings sterling fund shares to XRPL
Aviva Investors launched a tokenized share class of its £22 billion Sterling Liquidity Fund on the XRP Ledger, investing £50 million in the offering.
Ripple said combined investments across Aviva’s two tokenized share classes exceeded £86 million. The £22 billion figure describes the underlying fund’s total assets, not the amount tokenized.
CoinDCX confirms $15.99 million wallet loss
CoinDCX acknowledged losing 15.99 million USDT through old wallet infrastructure after initially rejecting theft reports.
The exchange said a failed deposit-sweeping service allowed funds to accumulate in previously compromised wallets. It said it absorbed the loss and customer balances remained unaffected.
HTX settles UK promotions case
HTX agreed to court undertakings lasting until Oct. 21, 2031, settling its financial promotions case with the FCA without admitting wrongdoing.
Eligible UK customers with remaining funds must contact support and complete checks to request a one-time 48-hour withdrawal window.
Zcash developers propose funding changes
Tachyon Group and Shielded Labs proposed redirecting Zcash Community Grants’ 8% block subsidy allocation into a development and legal defense lockbox.
The draft would require a 50,000 ZEC treasury donation within 30 days of community acceptance. Redirecting future funding would require a network upgrade after NU7.
