Top stories: JPMorgan forecasts 10% yearly Bitcoin returns over a decade; Drift exploiter sends $61M in ETH to Tornado Cash; Solana's Alpenglow targets 150ms finality, down from 6 seconds.
- Fear & Greed Index
- 63/100
alternative.me, 2026-10-21
Greed, 55 yesterday
1Macro & Global Markets
- US 10-year Treasury yield eases to 5.12% on October 20 from 5.15%
- South Korea's Kospi jumps 3.7% on Wednesday, Taiwan's Taiex adds 1.4%
2Market & Trading
- Zcash jumps 11% to about $1,260, leading the top 10 cryptocurrencies
- Blockchain.com launches options on seven tokens, including BTC and HYPE, from $5 premiums
Institutional Moves
- JPMorgan Asset Management forecasts 10% yearly Bitcoin returns over a decade, gold 5.5%
- Strive closes its $630M SATS preferred stock IPO with a 15% dividend
Regulatory Developments
- Utah sues Kalshi and Susquehanna, citing up to $61.2M in fees from Utah users
- Ripple files a 20-page SEC comment letter, citing $150M spent fighting the agency
Global Regulation
- Swiss regulator FINMA approves the country's first spot Bitcoin ETF for retail investors
- Kazakhstan's AFSA moves to have Apple and Google pull six exchange apps, including Coinbase
Layer 1 & Layer 2
- Solana's Alpenglow goes live Wednesday, targeting 150ms finality versus about 6 seconds
- LayerZero sets November 30 for Zero mainnet, with ATLAS trading at 200,000 TPS
Stablecoins & Payments
- Stablecoins move over $400M per hour, with 73% of volume outside US banking hours
- Injective and BDACS sign an MoU making won stablecoin KRW1 its main RWA settlement asset
Security & Enforcement
- Drift exploiter sends 25,700 ETH, about $61M, to Tornado Cash and still holds $194M
- Liquid Network resumes swaps after its 4,000 BTC hack, attackers still hold 600 BTC
AI & Crypto Convergence
- Mastercard opens early access to Agent Pay for Machines after pilots with six firms
- Tether joins Tenstorrent's $1.5B Series E, which values the AI chipmaker at $6.2B
Sources (17)
- Daily Treasury Par Yield Curve Rates, October 2026home.treasury.gov, 2026-10-20
- Bitcoin hovers around $83,000 as AI earnings revive tech, ZEC jumps 11%coindesk.com, 2026-10-21
- Blockchain.com rolls out crypto options as it pursues US derivatives licensestheblock.co, 2026-10-20
- JPMorgan sees 10% annual bitcoin returns, topping stocks, bonds and gold over next decadecoindesk.com, 2026-10-20
- Strive closes $630M SATS IPO, leaves Bitcoin allocation unspecifiedcointelegraph.com, 2026-10-20
- Utah likens Kalshi to a 'back-alley gambling den' in lawsuit naming Susquehanna firmstheblock.co, 2026-10-20
- Ripple backs SEC crypto rule after $150M legal fight, seeks key changescrypto.news, 2026-10-20
- Swiss regulator FINMA approves country's first spot bitcoin ETF for retail investorstheblock.co, 2026-10-20