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On Monday, the oracle network Chainlink released the cross-chain interoperability protocol CCIP 2, making significant upgrades to its communication and cross-chain bridge infrastructure. The new version allows enterprises to add their own security verification checks on top of Chainlink's default network of 16 independent node operators. Enterprises can run their own validators or hire external service providers such as Infosys and Nethermind. Chainlink stated that users should not be forced to become "cross-chain security infrastructure experts."This upgrade comes about five months after the Kelp DAO was hacked in April of this year. The attackers are reportedly linked to the North Korean Lazarus group, stealing approximately $292 million in rsETH by deceiving the single validator relied upon by the Kelp cross-chain bridge, which operates on LayerZero. LayerZero blamed Kelp for using only a single validator, while Kelp stated that LayerZero employees had reviewed its setup and raised no objections. Kelp subsequently announced that it would migrate rsETH to Chainlink.The upgrade also adjusts the security mechanism that Chainlink had previously heavily promoted; its risk management network will no longer operate as an independent review node, with such independent checks now provided by optional validators. This means that users who have not added any validators currently rely on a single validation network, whereas previously they relied on two. Existing Chainlink users have been automatically migrated to the new version, but the company has not disclosed which institutions are using the new validators, only stating that Aave and Maple have begun adopting other features of the upgrade.

The London-listed technology company The Smarter Web Company has allocated 2,710,442 shares of common stock according to the terms of the subscription agreement.The total amount raised from this allocation is £1,891,933 (before expenses), equivalent to approximately £0.7 per share, and the company will receive about 98.25% of the funds as settlement. The remaining balance of common stock that has not been allocated under the subscription agreement is 41,213,788 shares.

Reuters quoted The Information's report stating that the Chinese government has signaled that it may allow some domestic companies, such as ByteDance and Alibaba, to purchase chips from Nvidia designed for high-end professional computers. The Information cited two informed sources saying that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently requested companies, including ByteDance and Alibaba, to report their plans to purchase Nvidia RTX PRO 5500 chips and informed some companies that the government intends to approve these purchases.Some industry executives expect that the RTX PRO 5500 could bypass U.S. export restrictions. Reuters stated that it could not immediately verify the above report. A spokesperson for Nvidia responded that U.S. companies are still subject to outdated U.S. export controls as well as China's import restrictions on the U.S., with the relevant export controls covering gaming products released nearly five years ago. Alibaba and ByteDance did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and Reuters was also unable to reach the Chinese government for comment.

According to Euronews, Kazakhstan is promoting cryptocurrency mining companies to utilize the remaining associated gas from oil fields to build their own power stations, in order to reduce natural gas flaring, alleviate pressure on the national power grid, and increase oil production.Data shows that the country will flare about 300 to 340 million cubic meters of associated gas in 2024, which, if used for power generation, is expected to produce 1.2 to 1.3 terawatt-hours of electricity. Currently, the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan and other departments are formulating the relevant legal framework.

The on-chain digital credit protocol Saturn Foundation announced that the STRN token generation event (TGE) is scheduled to take place in the fourth quarter of 2026, with a maximum of 5% of the total reserved token supply for distribution during the second season.If the TGE occurs before December 8, 2026, the second season will end shortly before the TGE and a snapshot will be completed. If the second season ends early, the TGE allocation will be proportionally reduced based on the actual duration of the event, and any unallocated portion will be returned to the Saturn ecosystem allocation for future seasons. For example, if the event completes 75% of the originally scheduled period, only 75% of the reserved allocation will be distributed.After the second season snapshot is completed, the third season will begin immediately; eligible positions can continue to earn second season points until the snapshot, and users do not need to take any action at this time. The specific token economic model, distribution, and claiming arrangements will be disclosed in subsequent announcements.

The Solana ecosystem lending protocol Kamino has launched the sUSDai collateral market. This market is planned and operated by Allez Labs, and sUSDai is an asset linked to GPU loans.In this market, sUSDai holders can collateralize assets to borrow USDC, with a maximum loan-to-value ratio of 80%. Liquidation will be triggered when the collateralization ratio rises to 85%.

Two ChatGPT users from California filed a proposed class action lawsuit against OpenAI in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California this month, accusing the company of failing to adequately inform users that their real conversations were being handed over to external contractors for processing. The lawsuit was served to OpenAI on September 2, focusing on its internal initiative Project Lily. According to the complaint, "AI data reviewers" and "chatbot evaluators" recruited through a third-party staffing company read real ChatGPT prompts and complete conversations, summarize user intent, and score and comment on responses from four models on a scale of 1 to 7.This process is known in the industry as reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF), which is a fundamental method for enhancing chatbot capabilities. The complaint states that users were never explicitly informed that a person, rather than a machine, might be reading their conversations. OpenAI filters conversations through an automated system before human review, but the complaint alleges that the filters cannot intercept all content, and personal details sometimes still reach contractors. 404 Media first reported on the project on September 14 and found that the reviewers' dashboard included "user memory summaries," which could expose users' approximate locations, occupations, or private life information, even though usernames had been removed.OpenAI stated that such reviews aim to reduce two behaviors: chatbots behaving too much like humans and overly catering to users, referred to by researchers as "flattery." The complaint raises eight legal claims, including violations of California's Unfair Competition Law, Consumer Privacy Act, and common law claims for intrusion into private affairs, with the plaintiffs seeking damages, restitution of unjust enrichment, and punitive damages.

According to Bits.media, the Central Bank of Russia has amended the investment rules for mutual funds, allowing funds aimed at professional investors to invest in settlement indices linked to digital currency quotes.Retail mutual funds can also allocate a portion of non-listed Russian securities and foreign securities, including tokenized securities and shares of exchange-traded funds linked to cryptocurrency prices, with an investment limit of 10% for related assets and 20% for closed-end funds.

The on-chain derivatives protocol Variational announced that the Token Generation Event (TGE) for the token $VAR is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2026. The initial token distribution includes 32% genesis allocation, 18% ecological reserve, and 50% for team and investor shares. The genesis tokens will be airdropped according to the proportion of Variational points held and will be 100% unlocked at TGE; the ecological reserve will be retained by the Variational Foundation for ecological growth and distributed at its discretion.The team and investor tokens will be locked for 12 months after TGE, followed by a minimum unlocking period of three years. Team members are also subject to individual vesting arrangements, and the specific shares for both parties will be announced before TGE. Variational stated that it plans to use all revenue directed to the treasury for the repurchase and destruction of $VAR. Weekly point distribution will continue until TGE, with 150,000 points distributed each week; accounts must hold at least 1 point to qualify for signing terms and receiving the genesis allocation, and any unclaimed portion will be destroyed.Variational originally planned to end the points program in the third quarter of 2026 and subsequently launch $VAR, but this timeline has been delayed due to significant strategic partnerships. In the final weeks before TGE, the project will conclude private testing, launch Omni on the public mainnet, expand exchange functions, and release trading APIs, while also announcing details on repurchase and token usage, and disclosing the impact of new partnerships on Omni, Pro, and traditional financial markets on-chain when conditions permit.

The digital credit protocol Apyx announced on September 23 that the TGE of the governance token APYX has been postponed to after the originally scheduled date of October 13, 2026, when rewards were planned to be distributed to Season 1 and Season 2 participants. The reasons for the delay are twofold: the core reserve asset STRC has experienced the deepest and longest drawdown in its brief history, the protocol has not been interrupted, and the Chainlink on-chain NAV, proof cadence, minting, and redemption are still operating under existing terms, but the volatility of digital credit exceeds the range shown by its short history, requiring more time to address; multiple institutions have proactively reached out, hoping to use their infrastructure to bring their assets on-chain.The additional time will be used to strengthen the core protocol and to build a broader RWA platform V1 before the TGE. Digital credit remains the reserve anchor and source of yield for apyUSD, with custody, proof, on-chain NAV, redemption, and compliance frameworks being opened to other issuers and asset types. Apyx stated that the zero-fee, instant redemption, government bond-backed aptUSD has been launched, making it the first asset in the ecosystem not derived from digital credit. The Pips plan will continue, and Season 2 will no longer end on the originally scheduled date of October 11; the accumulation under the existing multiplier will remain uninterrupted, and positions, commitments, Curve and Pendle positions, and lending positions will continue to score without any action required.Due to the extended accumulation period, the airdrop allocation for Season 2 has increased from 6% of the total supply to 9%. The new end date will be confirmed along with the new TGE date, and it will not end without prior notice. The allocations for Season 1 and Season 2 will still be fully unlocked at the TGE.

The PermissionDelegationV1_1 upgrade of the XRP Ledger entered a 14-day activation countdown on September 21, having received support from 29 of the 35 trusted validator nodes. If the support rate remains above 80% during this period, the upgrade could officially activate as early as October 5 at 11:18 UTC; at least 28 validator nodes must continue to support it, or the countdown will reset.This feature allows accounts to split permissions by role. For example, a stablecoin issuer can allow a connected compliance system to approve customer accounts holding its tokens while keeping the keys with full control offline; operational accounts can gain payment permissions but cannot change keys or delegate authority to others. Each trustee can have up to 10 permissions, and the main account can modify or revoke them at any time.This is the network's second attempt to introduce this feature. The original version had vulnerabilities that attackers could exploit to make others pay transaction fees with improperly signed transactions, and by repeatedly submitting high-fee transactions, they could deplete the victim's XRP balance. This vulnerability was reported by community testers on September 15, 2025, and validator nodes were advised to reject the amendment, so it was never activated. The fixed version was released with xrpld 3.3.0, changing the way unauthorized transactions are rejected, ensuring that fees are not deducted before signature verification.

OpenAI announced that it will allow external organizations to evaluate its AI models in the early stages.

According to CNBC, the prediction market platform Kalshi has submitted an application to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) through its clearing agency Kalshi Klear, seeking to introduce margin trading for certain event contracts, allowing eligible traders to use leverage.Currently, event contracts on U.S. regulated exchanges require full collateral, and while Kalshi has offered leverage in its perpetual futures business, it has not yet been authorized to apply this to the prediction market. Kalshi stated that this feature aims to attract more institutional liquidity and, if approved, will only be available to self-clearing members that meet capital requirements, excluding sports, cultural, and "mention-type" markets. The company also plans to increase margin requirements as contracts approach expiration.

Bitcoin News posted on the X platform that Bloomberg senior commodity strategist Mike McGlone stated that U.S. Treasury bonds with a 5% yield now have the value to sell Bitcoin for allocation.

According to SoSoValue data, as of 8 AM Eastern Time on September 21, 2026, last week, global publicly listed companies (excluding mining companies) shifted from net selling to net buying of Bitcoin, with a net purchase amount reaching $183 million in a single week.Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) purchased 950 Bitcoins last week at a price of $79,670, spending approximately $75.7 million, bringing its total holdings to 846,000 Bitcoins, marking its first purchase in two weeks.The Japanese listed company Metaplanet did not purchase any Bitcoin last week, marking ten consecutive weeks without purchases.Additionally, two other companies announced Bitcoin purchases or holdings last week. Ethereum asset company Bitmine announced the purchase of 1 Bitcoin after 8 AM Eastern Time on September 14, without disclosing the specific purchase amount, bringing its total holdings to 212 Bitcoins; asset management company Strive announced on September 21 that it spent approximately $108 million last week to purchase 1,355 Bitcoins at a price of $79,475, bringing its total holdings to about 26,355 Bitcoins.As of the time of publication, the total amount of Bitcoin held by the global publicly listed companies (excluding mining companies) in the statistics is 1,156,080 Bitcoins, an increase of 2.67% compared to last week, with a current market value of approximately $9.865 billion, accounting for 5.8% of Bitcoin's circulating market value.

Bankless co-founder David Hoffman announced on May 21 that he had liquidated his ETH holdings and subsequently bought VVV, NEAR, ZEC, HYPE, and LIT, disclosing some entry prices: "NEAR at approximately $1.40, HYPE at approximately $45, ZEC at approximately $560, LIT at approximately $1.35."According to Gate market data, LIT is currently priced at $5.02, an increase of about 272% from the entry price; ZEC is currently priced at $1512.42, an increase of about 170%; NEAR is currently priced at $3.49, an increase of about 149%; HYPE is currently priced at $86.51, an increase of about 92%. Hoffman did not disclose the specific entry price for VVV, but if estimated at the May 21 price of $15.99, it is currently priced at $25.27, an increase of about 58%; during the same period, ETH rose from approximately $2127.47 to $2473.23, an increase of about 16%. The five altcoins he allocated significantly outperformed ETH during the same period.

Neutrl announced that holders of NUSD and sNUSD can now submit redemption requests through the official Neutrl redemption portal, subject to applicable terms and conditions. The redemption plan offers a fixed redemption rate based on previously disclosed liquidity reserves, and users who complete the redemption will receive USDC, with the corresponding NUSD or sNUSD being burned.Users must connect the wallet holding NUSD or sNUSD and sign an on-chain message to verify ownership; the portal will provide applicable redemption details before submission. This redemption plan is expected to remain open until November 14, 2026, and users should carefully review the complete terms on the portal before submitting.The redemption contract has been reviewed by a third-party security auditing firm. Users should ensure they only interact with the official Neutrl redemption portal URL before connecting their wallet, signing messages, or submitting transactions. Neutrl is operated by Caverna Auctus Inc.

According to The Defiant, Blockworks announced the launch of the Agentic Detection feature, allowing cryptocurrency exchanges and banks to receive compliance alerts directly from AI agents without waiting for human analysts to review. This feature went live on Thursday in Messari Monitoring, with each alert marked as generated by the agent or verified by an analyst.Blockworks stated that previously, analysts took about 5 minutes to verify each dynamic, while their proprietary model, trained on years of work by Messari analysts, can identify alerts in seconds. Agentic Detection is turned off by default, and clients can enable it view by view. Co-founder Jason Yanowitz mentioned that as on-chain activity scales, the market prices events in seconds rather than minutes, and clients need near real-time alerts.This detection layer is built on seven years of analyst coverage data, and the agent can read X, GitHub, governance forums, Discord, Telegram, project blogs, and over 1,000 news sources, covering more than 1,000 assets. Blockworks acquired Messari for over $10 million on June 12, after Messari completed a Series A extension financing led by ParaFi and Reciprocal Ventures in April, with a valuation of $192 million, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, MoonPay Ventures, and others.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stated that tokenization is expected to reduce costs in market infrastructure aspects such as issuance, trading, transfer, settlement, and ownership records, while enhancing transparency and liquidity. The SEC approved a temporary, conditional "Innovation Exemption," allowing tokenized NMS stocks to be traded in a limited manner on certain on-chain venues—tokenized securities trading venues (TSVs).It is reported that TSVs meeting the exemption conditions can conduct approved trading through automated market makers and liquidity pools, but must meet requirements for public disclosure, trading transparency, circuit breaker coordination, record keeping, and technical safeguards, while also being subject to limits on the number of stock codes and trading volume.The SEC indicated that this move aims to observe the operation of on-chain trading venues and market participants, providing data for the formulation of long-term regulatory rules in the future.

Bitcoin financial services company River released a report written by Sam Baker, stating that the traditional 60/40 stock-bond portfolio is no longer applicable and recommending that long-term investors increase their Bitcoin allocation to up to 10%.The report indicates that from 1980 to 2020, the annualized return of this portfolio was about 5% to 15%, but inflation, debt, and the correlation between stocks and bonds have reversed, with U.S. Treasury bonds exceeding $40 trillion by August 2026. Simulations over the past decade show that by replacing part of the bonds with 10% Bitcoin, the portfolio's terminal value increased from $25,364 to $60,595, with the maximum drawdown only increasing by 6 percentage points. As of August 2026, Bitcoin accounts for about 0.5% of global financial assets.