Key Facts The Blockchain for Good Alliance and the United Nations Development Programme have signed a two-year programme on cybersecurity knowledge and the responsible use of digital technologies in development. Edward Vrkić and Helen Liu signed on 19 October 2026 at the Cybersecurity, Trust and Digital Safety Launch Summit in Singapore. UNDP’s Alternative Finance Lab
Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley are increasingly positioning blockchain-based asset tokenization as a potential source of business growth rather than a threat to traditional financial institutions.During their third-quarter earnings calls in October 2026, executives from the three banks outlined opportunities spanning securities trading, cross-border payments, settlement infrastructure and investment advisory services.Their comments reflect
The European Union and eight countries have signed an international treaty designed to strengthen authorities’ ability to trace, freeze, seize and confiscate assets linked to criminal activity, including cryptocurrencies.The agreement was signed in Strasbourg on October 14, 2026, during the Council of Europe’s Octopus Conference on cybercrime. Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Luxembourg, Monaco, Montenegro, San Marino and
Stablecoins compete directly with traditional bank deposits for customer funds, according to new research published by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), adding empirical evidence to concerns about the growing role of digital dollars in the financial system.The October 13, 2026 working paper, titled Are Stablecoins and Bank Deposits Substitutes?, examines how changes in US
Layer-1 blockchain Qubic suspended network operations after attackers exploited a wallet security vulnerability to drain 1,404 addresses of approximately 2.94 trillion QU tokens during a coordinated attack on October 17–18, 2026.The stolen cryptocurrency was valued at approximately $1.3 million to $1.4 million, depending on the market price used.According to Qubic’s incident disclosures, the unauthorized transfers
Nine US-listed companies have formally objected to tokenized versions of their shares being offered on OKXICE, a proposed blockchain-based securities trading venue jointly owned by cryptocurrency exchange OKX and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange.According to an OKXICE public notice dated October 15, 2026, the companies are Cerebras Systems,
Yuga Labs, the company behind Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), launched Mudwater, a physical and digital trading card collection on Solana, on October 17, 2026, expanding its NFT ecosystem beyond its traditional Ethereum infrastructure.The collection debuted during ApeFest 2026 in Charleston, South Carolina, with claims opening for holders of Bored Ape Yacht Club and Mutant
US-listed cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds ended Friday, October 16, 2026, with combined net outflows of $164.8 million across Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana products, extending a difficult week for digital asset investment vehicles.According to Farside Investors, Bitcoin ETFs recorded $82.4 million in withdrawals, Ethereum funds lost $69.7 million and Solana products experienced $12.7 million in redemptions. The result
Tether Capital has invested in San Francisco-based AIsa as part of a seed extension round that brought the AI infrastructure company’s cumulative funding above $9 million, expanding the stablecoin issuer’s exposure to automated payments and enterprise artificial intelligence.AIsa announced the financing on October 15, naming Tether and HIVEN as new strategic investors alongside existing backers
Authorities in Ghana and Nigeria arrested 28 people during an international crackdown on online fraud networks, including cryptocurrency investment scams, while private-sector investigators identified more than $11 million in funds that could potentially be frozen, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on October 13.The operation also identified 117 human trafficking victims in Ghana, removed more