Weekly News: The past week in crypto and finance was nothing short of dramatic. From countries cutting taxes on crypto, to a flood of new ETF filings, to political shocks in the US and Middle East, everything seems connected. Let’s walk through the main stories.
Global Moves Toward Crypto
One of the strongest themes this week was governments opening their doors to digital assets. Thailand announced 0% capital gains tax on crypto trades between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2029. That makes people ask: could Thailand become the next Dubai for crypto investors?
Russia also signaled a turn. Sberbank is pushing to lift the ban on retail Bitcoin and altcoin trading, which could unlock domestic demand and international inflows. If this happens, it could mean a supply shock in the market.
Japan joined the story too. Bloomberg reported that Nomura’s Laser Digital is in talks with the Japanese regulator (FSA) to get a crypto trading license aimed at institutions. Meanwhile, in Sweden, two members of parliament proposed studying a strategic Bitcoin reserve, hinting that another European country might add BTC to its national balance sheet.
ETFs Everywhere
October really turned into ETF-tober. A massive wave of 21 new crypto ETFs was filed, covering familiar names like ADA, AVAX, LINK, SUI, and DOT, but also curveballs like TRX, AAVE, OKB, and TAO. While the US government shutdown may delay approvals, the ETF arms race clearly isn’t slowing.
At the same time, VanEck registered a Lido Staked Ethereum ETF in Delaware, aiming to offer exposure to stETH. LDO’s price jumped about 7% on the news. But not everything was smooth: the SEC missed its deadline on the Canary Capital Spot Litecoin ETF because of the shutdown, raising questions about whether old ETF filing deadlines even matter under the new general listing rules.
Meanwhile, BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) officially became one of the top 20 ETFs worldwide, managing $90.7B in assets, bigger than tech giant XLK. That was paired with fresh data showing ETF inflows for BTC and ETH remain positive, with BlackRock alone adding $466M in one day.
Market Signals and Predictions
JPMorgan surprised many by predicting Bitcoin could hit $165,000 by year-end, even as CEO Jamie Dimon continued his public criticism. Some see it as another case of public “bearish talk” but private optimism. Old clips were dug up too, like Fed chair Alan Greenspan in 2017, accidentally admitting that Bitcoin’s value “can never be negative, only zero or plus.” Back then BTC was $12,000, now it’s about ten times higher.
On the macro side, Polymarket shows a 90% chance of another Fed rate cut this month. That matters because the US government shutdown has frozen key economic data like unemployment, CPI, and GDP. Historically, the Fed tends to lean dovish during shutdowns. Analysts also reminded us that shutdowns usually last about 8 days, and in most cases the S&P 500 ends the following year higher, on average +13%.
Still, the political drama runs deep. Trump floated new $1,000–$2,000 stimulus checks, possibly funded from new tariffs. At the same time, he shocked many by calling on Israel to immediately halt its strikes on Gaza, saying Hamas seemed ready for a “permanent peace.” That mix of domestic and foreign policy news added fuel to already tense markets.
Networks, Tokens, and DeFi Growth
On-chain activity painted another picture. Base led all networks in active addresses, up 27% with 4.5M users, while Solana stayed king with 14.5M. Ethereum stablecoin supply hit a record $177B, and over 17B USDT is moving daily, 130x more than in 2020.
BNB had its own headlines: BNB price hit $1,100, while BNB Chain introduced a minimum gas fee of 0.05 Gwei to stabilize the network. At the same time, SUI’s TVL surged to $674M, closing in on its all-time high, and the network launched two new native stablecoins in partnership with Ethena.
DeFi projects also showed wild growth in September.
- Legion jumped +5,485% in TVL
- Sablier +2,830%
- ZeroBaseZK +1,029%.
Even mid-tier projects like:
- MidasRWA (+232%)
- DefiDevCorp (+202%)
showed how much liquidity is flowing back into DeFi.
And there’s more: Avalanche Treasury announced a $675M merger aimed at building a $1B AVAX war chest, while Sharps Technology on Solana revealed a $100M stock buyback plan. Both moves show crypto firms are taking cues from traditional finance to boost investor confidence.
Chainlink’s Rising Influence
Chainlink had a week of big wins. It integrated with SWIFT and UBS to simplify tokenized fund messaging, then announced a global corporate actions initiative with 24 major institutions, including DTCC and Euroclear. On top of that, it won the SWIFT Hackathon 2025 Business Challenge, presenting a system for cross-border asset settlement. Chainlink keeps pushing itself as the bridge between traditional finance and blockchain.
Stablecoins, Institutions, and Big Players
Stablecoins kept showing their strength. The US Treasury exempted Bitcoin and digital assets from the 15% corporate minimum tax, potentially encouraging more institutional adoption. At the same time, Stripe launched its Open Issuance platform, letting companies create and manage their own stablecoins.
Meanwhile, Tether bought $1B worth of Bitcoin, ending Q3 2025 with nearly 9,000 BTC added. On the other side, Cronos partnered with Amazon Web Services to push institutional tokenization and AI-powered DeFi apps. And WLFI made noise by announcing the launch of USD1 on Aptos plus plans for a debit card and RWA-backed products like real estate and oil.
Stocks, Indices, and Bigger Picture
The traditional markets stayed heated. The S&P 500 closed at a record 6,715 points, raising the question: will Bitcoin and crypto follow equities higher? Some argue the connection between risk assets is tighter than ever.
To add to the irony, Wall Street is even launching a “corruption ETF”, a fund tracking stocks tied to political influence. Crypto isn’t included, but some suggest tokenized shares or public crypto companies like COIN or RIOT could eventually tie into this theme.
Closing Thoughts
This was a week of contrasts. Some countries opened up to crypto, while US politics stayed messy. Institutions kept building products, while DeFi quietly recorded historic growth. Stimulus talk and Middle East tensions mixed with record equity highs. Through it all, Bitcoin kept pulling attention, whether through ETFs, government reserves, or billion-dollar purchases.
It feels like we’re entering a new stage: governments, banks, and blockchains aren’t fighting as much, they’re beginning to merge, even if slowly and unevenly.
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