Crypto Sports

Macauley Peterson

Circle and Safe unveiled a strategic partnership aimed at making USDC the default asset for institutional self-custody and onchain treasury operations, the companies said Tuesday. 



The tie-up positions USDC “at the core of the Safe ecosystem,” bundling Circle’s stablecoin infrastructure with Safe’s programmable, multi-sig smart accounts that already see heavy enterprise and DAO usage.



The move lands as <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/circle">Circle</a> leans harder into institutional distribution following its June listing on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CRCL.



For <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/safe">Safe</a>, the announcement formalizes an institutional pivot already underway. In June, the Safe Ecosystem Foundation <a href="https://safe.global/blog/safe-labs-launch-rahul-rumalla-ceo">stood up Safe Labs</a>, as a wholly owned subsidiary tasked with operating an enterprise-grade instance of Safe{Wallet} and aligning governance and monetization around the SAFE token. Safe Labs will now run the app.safe.global interface as it pushes for uptime, SLAs and faster product cycles.



Many details are still pending, but product-wise, the companies say institutions will get a tighter experience from onboarding through advanced treasury management: policy-based approvals, role-based spending, and direct access to DeFi liquidity where <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/usdc">USDC</a> is most active. Circle’s Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (<a href="https://developers.circle.com/cctp">CCTP</a>) — which burns and mints native USDC across supported chains — figures to be a key building block for moving balances between networks without relying on wrapped versions.



Scale remains a selling point. Safe notes it secures about $60 billion in digital assets and accounts for roughly 4% of all Ethereum transactions — credentials it argues make Safe a “premier institutional storage solution” for USDC in self-custody and DeFi. The institutional push must contend with reliability and governance, following industry-wide scrutiny after a <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/bybit-hack-raises-security-questions">February incident involving Bybit’s wallets</a> that touched Safe’s ecosystem, although the loss stemmed from compromised credentials rather than core Safe code.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1600" height="889" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-40.png?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-109033" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-40.png?w=1600 1600w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-40.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-40.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-40.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-40.png?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-40.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-40.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-40.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-40.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">USDC is the #2 stablecoin by circulating supply, with roughly have the supply of USDT on Ethereum | Source: <a href="https://app.blockworksresearch.com/analytics/ethereum?dashboard=231">Blockworks Research</a></figcaption></figure>







Stablecoin settlement is a core part of the plumbing of onchain capital markets, and institutions want policy-aware accounts that plug directly into compliance-minded liquidity. Circle brings the regulated dollar; Safe brings the programmable account and enterprise workflows, suitable for crypto-native treasuries and corporates moving onchain, who aren’t afraid of self-custody.



The companies did not disclose commercial terms. Near-term watch items include concrete service level agreements from Safe Labs, specific DeFi venues and guardrails supported at launch, and how quickly CCTP-powered, policy-constrained transfers become one-click inside Safe.



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Circle

Safe taps Circle’s USDC in institutional self-custody partnership

Blockworks

S&amp;P Global Ratings has partnered with Chainlink to publish its stablecoin stability assessments on-chain.



The collaboration uses Chainlink’s institutional-grade DataLink oracle infrastructure to deliver S&amp;P’s independent stablecoin risk evaluations directly to decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and institutional systems.



The SSAs rate a stablecoin’s ability to maintain value parity with fiat currencies on a scale from 1 (very strong) to 5 (weak).&nbsp;



While not formal credit ratings, the assessments analyze key factors such as collateral quality, liquidity management, and governance controls.&nbsp;



By embedding these evaluations into smart contracts through Chainlink’s decentralized network, DeFi protocols and investors can access real-time stability insights for automated risk management and lending decisions.



Chuck Mounts, Chief DeFi Officer at S&amp;P Global, said the launch reflects the firm’s aim to “meet clients where they are” as institutional adoption of digital assets accelerates. Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov called the integration “a critical step” in enabling traditional market standards to guide on-chain finance.



The move follows S&amp;P Global’s 2023 debut of its Stablecoin Stability Assessments and expands the company’s data reach into blockchain ecosystems. It also aligns with broader efforts to bridge traditional finance with DeFi, joining similar Chainlink integrations from institutions like Deutsche Börse and the U.S. Department of Commerce.



S&amp;P Global Ratings’ collaboration with Chainlink builds on a gradual expansion of its digital asset coverage since 2021. 



The firm has previously analyzed stablecoin reserves, crypto-backed lending, and tokenization frameworks across traditional credit markets. In December 2023, S&amp;P launched its first stablecoin assessments, evaluating tokens USDC, USDT and others.



This is a developing story.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



This article was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by editor&nbsp;<a href="mailto:jeffrey@blockworks.co" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jeffrey Albus</a>&nbsp;before publication.



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Chainlink

S&P Global and Chainlink launch on-chain stablecoin risk assessments

Ben Strack

This is a segment from the Forward Guidance newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/forward-guidance">subscribe</a>.



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This version of DAS London felt extra timely as stablecoins proliferate, tokenization developments multiply, DATs keep buying their desired tokens and more US crypto ETFs wait in the wings.&nbsp;



Not to mention the latest crypto turbulence, which spurred a <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/crypto-liquidations-drive-historic-market-turbulence">historic level of liquidations</a> Friday — making this gathering feel even more fitting, in a way.&nbsp;



Christopher Holmes, a member of the House of Lords, alluded to that “crash” Monday morning, asking the crowd: “How’s everybody’s blood pressure?”



Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan was later asked how much Friday’s activity damaged this crypto cycle. He was resolute in his answer: “Not at all.”



His firm’s main customers are professional investors — family offices, financial advisers and institutions — that he says are driving this cycle by growing their crypto allocations from, let’s say, 0% to 3%. That’s mostly into bitcoin, which remains up ~23% year to date and roughly 6x what it was just three years ago.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1440" height="874" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-39.png?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-108967" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-39.png?w=1440 1440w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-39.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-39.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-39.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-39.png?w=423 423w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-39.png?w=430 430w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-39.png?w=361 361w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-39.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px" /></figure>



“The people driving the market can’t pronounce solana,” Hougan added.



Stablecoins — with a market value just shy of $300 billion — were another big talking point.&nbsp;



Inversion founder Santiago Roel Santos, for example, criticized exchanges <a href="https://x.com/brian_armstrong/status/1963375254526709879">upping their max leverage</a> offerings to traders. He warned that the industry best not rely too much on centralized exchanges to acquire users.&nbsp;



“[With] stablecoins in their own right, as a tokenization product, we don’t need to innovate more than that for this industry to be 10x larger and transform businesses,” Santos argued.



Apeiron Investment Group founder Christian Angermayer also addressed stablecoins:



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">&quot;I think the US [will] go as far in the next three years to try to convince numerous of these countries to just completely abolish their currency and completely dollarize&quot; <a href="https://t.co/iTdV0eTEVh">pic.twitter.com/iTdV0eTEVh</a>&mdash; Digital Asset Summit 2025 (@blockworksDAS) <a href="https://twitter.com/blockworksDAS/status/1977697640759325143?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Panelists touched on regulation too.&nbsp;



UK Parliament member Nigel Farage, who seeks to become Britain’s next prime minister, said the vast majority of his colleagues can’t <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/nigel-farage-deregulation-bitcoin">hold a crypto convo</a>.&nbsp;



&#8220;You might as well be speaking Swahili to them,” he told Blockworks co-founder Michael Ippolito.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">If <a href="https://twitter.com/Nigel_Farage?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Nigel_Farage</a> wins the general election, &quot;we will bring crypto in from the cold&quot; <a href="https://t.co/udoA6grCf1">pic.twitter.com/udoA6grCf1</a>&mdash; Digital Asset Summit 2025 (@blockworksDAS) <a href="https://twitter.com/blockworksDAS/status/1977700466487124347?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Speaking of regulation, Jito Labs chief legal officer Rebecca Rettig said on the DAS stage she doesn’t expect US market structure legislation to pass this year. She’s eyeing 2026.



“The best thing would be if we stop having regulatory panels two to three years from now, because the lawyers can just be back-office people like we’re supposed to be,” she said to laughter.&nbsp;



Rettig added: “The biggest question is, and will remain to be, what do we do about DeFi?” Regulators want to, after all, hold people/front-ends accountable in that realm; that could slow down market structure clarity.&nbsp;



“It is almost like you’re explaining robots to people or what the future looks like,” she noted. “It’s very hard for financial regulators to believe that things that look so similar to what they know from centralized legislation can actually happen without any human intervention.”



It was DeFi platforms like Aave that operated <a href="https://x.com/heyibinance/status/1976976922283221445">smoother than various centralized players</a> during what many called the latest “stress test,” Rettig said.



Let’s wrap up this Day 1 recap with a bigger-picture quote from DeFi Development Corp. CEO Joseph Onorati. It’s a theme that seems to sum up most DAS events.&nbsp;



He said he didn’t view his move to running a <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/equity-fueled-firms-volatility-sol">Nasdaq-listed</a> Solana treasury company as a transition from DeFi to TradFi. Rather, it was just “a natural progression” given regulatory changes, which he said will allow these two systems to keep merging.



“In 20 years…hopefully [finance is] more decentralized than centralized,” Onorati noted. “But there’s just going to be one system in the long run.”



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Soundbites and sentiment from DAS London Day 1

At DAS London, Eigen Labs’ J.T. Rose argued that crypto’s next leg won’t be DeFi but “verifiable AI” — agentic systems whose off-chain work can be proven on-chain.&nbsp;



Rose cast Eigen’s stack as a cloud-like trio of services (data, compute, inference) backed by crypto-economic security and proofs, letting developers keep public-cloud flexibility while adding verifiability before funds move or state updates land on <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/ethereum">Ethereum</a>.



Three promising use cases are coming to the fore, according to Rose:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Autonomous trading agents that must prove they followed risk rules;</li>



<li>Agent-to-agent (A2A) payments where work receipts trigger settlement and;</li>



<li>Gaming with attestable outcomes.</li>
</ul>



“The single most important limitation we see for [<a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/artificial-intelligence">Artificial Intelligence</a>] founders over the next decade is trust,” Rose said. “Without a mechanism to make AI verifiable up and down the stack — from inference and benchmarking to training and identity — we’ll never hit escape velocity for the agentic era.”



The common thread is programmability meets provability — “programmability like a cloud, assurances like a blockchain,” as Rose framed it — a response to today’s trade-off between tightly constrained on-chain execution and opaque off-chain compute.



David Sneider, co-founder of Lit Protocol, largely shares the destination, focusing on the properties which can instill trust in AI agents, like “guardrails and policies,” synonyms to promote correct execution.



“[As] with anything with security, there&#8217;s multiple components in terms of different types of attacks and how you guard against them,” Sneider told Blockworks, arguing that runtime enforcement — not just after-the-fact proofs — is what turns agents from demos into dependable infrastructure.



In Lit Protocol’s design, Sneider said, a user might tell an agent, “Send an email or buy a bitcoin,” in which case “it communicates with Lit, which validates against the policies&#8230;and only if the policy passes, the secret management network then executes.” By “secret management network,” Sneider is referring to Lit’s TEE-secured, MPC-based key infrastructure.



Taken together, Lit handles the “Can the agent act on my behalf?” question. <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/google-cloud-eigencloud-payments">EigenCloud and Google’s AP2</a> handle “Can I trust the result of this offchain computation?”



Or, to simplify the full trust stack:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>An agent asks: Am I allowed to do this? (Lit)</li>



<li>Execution proves: Did I do what I said? (EigenCloud/AP2)</li>
</ul>



Rose outlined a range of alternatives on the verifiability spectrum, such as TEEs, crypto-economic slashing and zk proofs. Lit can emit success/failure signals and policy-compliance proofs for each execution, but they’re often kept internal. The roadmap is to surface those attestations “in privacy-preserving ways into shared registries like <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ethereum-foundation-team-ai-integration">ERC-8004</a> and inter-agent communication protocols like A2A,” so a compliant agent doesn’t need to be re-audited in every venue.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1600" height="889" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-38.png?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-108957" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-38.png?w=1600 1600w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-38.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-38.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-38.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-38.png?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-38.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-38.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-38.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-38.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /></figure>



Restaked ether has held steady between 2-3 million ETH, mostly with <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/eigenlayer">EigenLayer</a> | Source: <a href="https://app.blockworksresearch.com/analytics/ethereum?dashboard=313">Blockworks Research</a> (Entity labels sourced from <a href="https://dune.com/">Dune&#8217;s</a> staking flows table.)



Both founders converge on Ethereum as the neutral trust anchor and on a near-term consumer arc.



Soon, “everybody is going to have essentially a quant in their pocket to manage their funds,” Sneider said. It’s an idea that “seems pretty coherent and is starting to come together.”



If all the pieces land — guardrails that travel and compute that can prove itself — both founders see a path from prototypes to production. As Rose put it: “The next growth driver for crypto won’t be DeFi — it’s verifiable AI, and it’ll happen on Ethereum.”



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Verifiable AI took center stage at DAS London with EigenCloud

Kate Irwin

This is a segment from The Drop newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/the-drop">subscribe</a>.



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Six years ago, the Ethereum Foundation <a href="https://blog.ethereum.org/2019/11/27/validated-staking-on-eth2-no-0">declared</a> that “eth2 should be capable of surviving World War 3.”



But its app layer is clearly not.&nbsp;



Uniswap Labs’ front-end is still blocking Ukraine-based IP addresses, according to multiple user reports and my own test with a VPN set to the country.



Ukraine IP addresses are able to see the Uniswap site, but any attempt to select assets results in an error message, which does not occur when using a US IP address.



Artem Chystiakov, head of Solidity at Distributed Lab, is based in Ukraine and believes Uniswap has misinterpreted US sanctions.&nbsp;



“It is clearly stated that no goods, services or technology must be provided to both the so-called DNR/LNR and the Crimea regions of Ukraine. Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities/regions are not mentioned whatsoever,” Chystiakov wrote.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Dear <a href="https://twitter.com/Uniswap?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Uniswap</a>, I am writing this letter to you because your dapp is still blocked and can&#39;t be used in Ukraine. We had this conversation before and despite my efforts to convince you why it is legal to access the dapp from Kyiv (support ticket 169045), nothing has changed since… <a href="https://t.co/RDy1UfS0WC">pic.twitter.com/RDy1UfS0WC</a>&mdash; Artem Chystiakov (@Arvolear) <a href="https://twitter.com/Arvolear/status/1977618657468359103?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



OFAC’s <a href="https://ofac.treasury.gov/sanctions-programs-and-country-information/where-is-ofacs-country-list-what-countries-do-i-need-to-worry-about-in-terms-of-us-sanctions">website</a> states: “The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) does not maintain a specific list of countries that US persons cannot do business with.” Instead, it details specific programs and sanctioned persons and companies.



In the open letter, Chystiakov told Uniswap Labs: “This is absurd. Ukraine, being in the middle of the war, fighting for freedom, and you are limiting the availability of your service on some false regulatory claims.”



Chystiakov shared a screenshot response from Uniswap Labs’ support team, indicating the issue has been ongoing since at least as early as February this year:&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1410" height="516" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-36.png?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-108950" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-36.png?w=1410 1410w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-36.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-36.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-36.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-36.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-36.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-36.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-36.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1410px) 100vw, 1410px" /></figure>



The date of the response, plus user <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/UniSwap/comments/1kji6jf/uniswap_not_available_in_ukraine_what/">reports</a> and the date of a Change.org <a href="https://www.change.org/p/restore-uniswap-access-for-ukrainian-citizens">petition</a>, suggests Uniswap Labs has been blocking Ukrainians’ access to its DEX via its front-end for at least a year now.&nbsp;



Traders suggested using an aggregator instead, though using a VPN would also in theory work to get around the restriction.



The Uniswap support team’s response from February suggests they’ve taken a blanket approach to adhering to sanctions by blocking entire countries via “third party providers.”



But Cloudflare, for example, does offer ways to block only certain parts of a country. <a href="https://community.cloudflare.com/t/embargoed-and-sanctioned-countries-crimea/204185">Posts</a> from the Cloudflare team and <a href="https://community.cloudflare.com/t/how-to-block-sanctioned-sections-of-ukraine/648769">community</a> show that Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk can be blocked individually using specific subregion codes. But a Cloudflare Pro, Business or Enterprise plan is <a href="https://community.cloudflare.com/t/block-traffic-originated-from-specific-sub-regions-in-ukraine-to-our-domain/757612/2">required</a>.&nbsp;



Uniswap Labs appears to be using Cloudflare, based on ICANN Lookup data, NsLookup, and Cloudflare’s <a href="https://domaincontact.cloudflareregistrar.com/uniswap.org">website</a>.&nbsp;



It’s unclear whether the issue is due to a policy choice, issues with Cloudflare or a financial decision. Data suggests Uniswap Labs saw <a href="https://defillama.com/protocol/uniswap-labs">$118 million</a> in revenue in 2024. The Uniswap Foundation <a href="https://gov.uniswap.org/t/uniswap-foundation-summary-fy-2024-financials/25486">reported</a> $1.11 million in revenue in that same period.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1600" height="868" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/unnamed.png?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-108958" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/unnamed.png?w=1600 1600w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/unnamed.png?w=300 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Error message encountered when using a Ukraine-based IP address</figcaption></figure>



It’s ironic, of course, that Uniswap’s website bears the slogan “Swap anytime, anywhere,” when that is not really the case.



Uniswap Labs blocking Ukrainians from using its web app is additionally ironic considering it <a href="https://decrypt.co/94079/uniswap-adds-tool-to-facilitate-crypto-donations-to-ukraine">added</a> a function for users to easily donate to the Ukrainian government via Uniswap back in 2022. Upon checking today, that donate link appears to have since been taken down.



I’ve reached out to Uniswap Labs for comment, but did not receive a response in time for publication.&nbsp;



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Developers

Uniswap Labs front-end remains blocked in Ukraine, frustrating builders

Jack Kubinec

Founder sources I’ve spoken to seem to agree: There’s never been a better time to be selling a stablecoin startup.



I learned this the hard way last week. After noticing the relative dearth of recent crypto acquisitions, I was planning a bratty column titled: “Is the crypto M&amp;A season in the room with us right now?”&nbsp;



Then Fortune blew up my spot when it broke the news that Coinbase and Mastercard are offering between $1.5-2.5 billion to acquire stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK. Coinbase appears to currently have the inside track to win the bidding war, Fortune <a href="https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/10/09/bvnk-acquisition-coinbase-mastercard-stablecoins/">reported</a>.



<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/stripe-acquisition-azura-defi-raise">Stripe paid $1.1 billion</a> for stablecoin infrastructure shop Bridge last year, and BVNK could get double that amount. BVNK <a href="https://fortune.com/crypto/2024/12/17/exclusive-stablecoin-bvnk-750-million-series-b-bridge-stripe-haun/">reportedly</a> had $40 million in annualized revenue at the end of last year.



The revenue multiples that stablecoin startups can ask for in the current market environment are “pretty damn high,” said one stablecoin founder, who declined to be named. The founder added that despite the relatively low number of closed acquisition deals in recent months, the sharks are circling behind the scenes.



“If you can name a company in the space or tangential to the space, they are shopping around,” the founder said.



Stablecoin startups can fast track large financial or payments’ firms pathway to market in a post CLARITY Act world. This is partly because stablecoin tech may be cumbersome to build in-house and partly because stablecoin firms may have earned the requisite licenses to do business in the US.&nbsp;



“M&amp;A will be a key for institutions to play catch up games,” Jiazi Guo, founder and CEO of crypto tax firm ETZ Soft, said.



Some of these startups — the BVNKs and Bridges of the world — may have great pieces in place but lack the scale to absorb all the demand for stablecoins. The apparently high revenue multiples being demanded by stablecoin startups in the current environment could be justified by the projected revenue these firms could produce in the context of a larger company with more compliance infrastructure and distribution, said a second founder in the stablecoin space.



In conversations on crypto’s M&amp;A outlook, I heard names like Visa, Mastercard, and Square come up as potential buyers.&nbsp;



Within crypto, things can get murkier. Paying with stock helps billion-dollar-plus acquisitions actually happen, and while private crypto projects can offer tokens, those may be seen as risky assets to accept from a seller’s point of view.&nbsp;



Actors like Coinbase, Circle, Tether, and some layer-1s could be outliers here, either because they have gone public or have a large amount of free cash flow.&nbsp;



There has been a decent amount of acquisition activity within crypto in recent months, with firms like MoonPay making multiple smaller acquisitions. These deals may be more likely to be paid in cash, such as Solana staking firm Sanctum’s <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sanctum-acquires-ironforge">recent acquisition of IronForge</a>.



The complicating factor in some crypto-native acquisition deals can be tokens, which present thorny questions as to the rights of token holders. Tokens can also make it less logical for companies to merge, said one of the founders, who recounted an acquisition deal with a down-on-its-luck DeFi venue falling through due to complications surrounding the project’s token.



The <a href="https://thedefiant.io/news/defi/stargate-approves-usd110-million-takeover-by-layerzero">messy takeover attempt</a> Wormhole made for cross-chain protocol Stargate Finance illustrated how projects with token holder bases don’t always make for the easiest acquisition targets.



Still, my sources seem to think crypto M&amp;A is yet to peak for this market cycle. Perhaps a BVNK bidding war will be the activation energy that gets M&amp;A season kicked off in earnest.



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acquisition

It’s selling time for stablecoin companies

BitMine Immersion announced the acquisition of more than 200,000 ETH, raising its total holdings of the cryptocurrency to more than 3 million ETH. 



The firm said its crypto and cash holdings are worth nearly $13 billion. BitMine holds a mix of ETH and BTC, in addition to its bitcoin mining business lines and <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/eightco-holdings-inc-octo-announces-250-million-private-placement-with-an-additional-20-million-strategic-investment-from-bitmine-bmnr-to-initiate-worlds-first-worldcoin-wld-treasury-strategy-302549012.html">shares</a> in Eightco Holdings, a Worldcoin treasury company. 



BitMine is the largest treasury company of its kind, with its holdings far exceeding those of other firms, per Blockworks Research <a href="https://blockworks.com/analytics/treasury-companies/ethereum-treasury-companies">data</a>. 



The firm, according to chairman Tom Lee, has maintained a goal of acquiring 5% of the total supply of ETH, which per Coingecko currently stands at more than 120 million tokens.



In this morning’s press statement, Lee cited last week’s market tumult and wave of liquidations in leveraged trading markets as key instigators for Bitmine’s latest purchases.&nbsp;



“The crypto liquidation over the past few days created a price decline in ETH, which BitMine took advantage of,” Lee said in a statement, later adding: “We are now more than halfway towards our initial pursuit of the &#8216;alchemy of 5%&#8217; of ETH.&#8221;



BitMine is one of a growing body of digital asset treasuries (DATs) that trade on public markets. 



BitMine’s stock, under the ticker BMNR, is trading at $54.86, up roughly 4.3% since the market’s open.



This is a developing story.



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This article was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by editor&nbsp;<a href="mailto:jeffrey@blockworks.co" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jeffrey Albus</a>&nbsp;before publication.



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BitMine

BitMine adds 200K ETH to its Ethereum treasury holdings

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage took to the stage at DAS London this morning and promised that, should his party enter government, it would oversee a process of deregulation in the country’s crypto space.



During his appearance, Farage touted his party’s “Cryptoassets and Digital Finance Bill,” <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg4vnd0d17ro">unveiled in May</a> and criticized the management of the UK financial service sector by the Conservative Party and Labour Party.&nbsp;



“It’s been completely neglected by both the last government and by this government, and I want to regenerate it. I want to make London back to being a great trading center and that includes [the crypto] space,” he told attendees.



Reform UK’s draft bill proposed cutting capital gains tax on crypto to 10%, establishing a bitcoin reserve at the Bank of England, and tightening rules against account closures based on lawful digital-asset activity.



“We have to get the tax burden right,” he said of Reform UK’s broader economic plans, decrying a “flight of capital, the flight of brains” to other countries.&nbsp;



Farage’s pledges come as the major UK political parties fight over the direction of the country’s economy, amid a period of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/sep/12/stagnant-gdp-shows-scale-of-challenge-for-rachel-reeves-at-autumn-budget">slowing growth</a> and deteriorating <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/oct/05/rachel-reeves-second-budget-narrative-fairness-tax-rises">government finances</a>. Recent polls, per <a href="https://www.politico.eu/europe-poll-of-polls/united-kingdom/">Politico EU</a>, show Reform performing above the other parties, including the governing Labour Party.&nbsp;



The comments also come amid shifts in the regulatory landscape for crypto in the UK. Late last month, UK and US officials announced the creation of <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0256">a new collaborative task force</a> intended, in part, to harmonize crypto rules.



Meanwhile, Bank of England chief Andrew Bailey has pushed for major stablecoins to be closely regulated in the country. According to Reuters, he remarked on Oct. 1 that “widely used UK stablecoins should have access to accounts at the BoE in order to reinforce their status as money.” Bailey has <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/bank-england-says-regulators-must-keep-ahead-stablecoins-2020-09-03/">long argued</a> that regulators must closely monitor and enforce rules around stablecoins.



This is a developing story.



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This article was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by editor <a href="https://blockworks.co/author/michael-mcsweeney" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Michael McSweeney</a> before publication.



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Bitcoin

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage touts plans for crypto deregulation, Bitcoin reserve

Michael McSweeney

Crypto prices plunged Friday, triggering the market’s most severe — and perhaps most consequential — wave of liquidations on record.



More than $19 billion worth of liquidations were triggered during the past day, according to <a href="https://www.coinglass.com/LiquidationData">Coinglass</a> data, with $16.8 billion of that figure on the long side. The true figure “is likely much higher” owing to the way Binance, which saw significant volume during the event, reports&nbsp; liquidations, Coinglass <a href="https://x.com/coinglass_com/status/1976796969961193641">wrote</a> on X.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The decentralized perpetuals trading platform Hyperliquid saw a significant portion of the day’s action: $10.3 billion in liquidations, with $9.3 billion on the long side, per Coinglass.



The developments were fueled by the escalating <a href="https://x.com/0xdoug/status/1976850615621107743">unwind</a> of leveraged positions and a collapse in open interest. Bitcoin’s price fell to as low as $104,000, with altcoins big and small impacted more severely.



Felix Jauvin, host of the Forward Guidance podcast, told me, &#8220;This was one of the messiest liquidation events that I’ve seen in a long time. The last one I remember like this was probably May 2021. With estimates of around $20b of liquidations, it’s likely someone big got carried out and there was nowhere to hide other than spot long.&#8221;



&#8220;Leverage long? Liquidated. Leverage short? Forced deleveraging through exchange auto deleveraging (ADL),&#8221; he explained. &#8220;I’m&nbsp;hearing a lot of stories of people that were short, took profits and bought the dip and then were quickly liquidated right after.&nbsp;It’s&nbsp;a mess and will take quite a while for market makers to reshore up liquidity again.”



Onchain activity surged dramatically, though some users encountered significant delays in the chaos. Aave founder Stani Kulechov <a href="https://x.com/StaniKulechov/status/1976777483824644454">wrote</a> on X that “[t]he protocol operated flawlessly, automatically liquidating a record $180M worth of collateral in just one hour, without any human intervention.”



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">1/ Yesterdays crash brought chaos to DeFi lending markets. Aave: $182M in liquidated loans Spark: $16M in liquidated loans Morpho: $35M in liquidated loans Lets dive into the data 👇&mdash; Jack 🟪 (@JackMandin) <a href="https://twitter.com/JackMandin/status/1977008640281510245?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 11, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Speculation quickly surfaced on Crypto Twitter around yet-to-be-named industry firms suffering major losses that, in turn, deepened the rout. Alongside these theories, traders shared testimonies of complete or near-total wipeouts of leveraged positions.



“Probably one of the most severe flushes I’ve ever seen on alts, I didn’t even imagine alts had this much leverage in them,” Cobie, the long-time crypto trader and commentator, <a href="https://x.com/cobie/status/1976788855006302686">wrote</a> on X Friday. “It feels like someone got hit very hard and will see a large body float to the surface soon, reminds me a little of summer 2021.”



“Don’t let a leverage blowup dictate your long-term views. The future is bright, good things to come, patience is rewarded,” he went on to conclude.



Bitcoin’s price has since partially recovered and is trading around $112,200 at the time of writing. The collective crypto market cap is down 9% in the past day, per Coingecko. Among the altcoins bucking the trend was <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/zcash">Zcash</a>, which posted additional gains post-crash after climbing sharply in the days and hours beforehand.



Some market participants swiftly drew comparisons to the dramatic market drops around Tether/Luna and FTX. Both proved to be market-defining events last cycle.&nbsp;



Beyond the raw numbers —&nbsp;Coinglass reports 1.6 million traders liquidated in the past 24 hours —&nbsp;the event demonstrated crypto’s vastly expanded interconnectedness with global markets and power politics.



The selloff appears part of a broader reaction to a new flare-up in US President Donald Trump’s trade war against China. Trump, in a pair of posts on his Truth Social website, declared his intention to impose 100% tariffs in response to a move by China to restrict access to its rare earth materials. The U.S. would also restrict Chinese access to “critical software”, Trump said, per the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/us/politics/trump-xi-china-tariffs-rare-earth.html">New York Times</a>. Major US indices <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/business/stock-market-trump-tariffs.html">tumbled</a> on the news, especially after Trump doubled down on his tariff threats.&nbsp;



While the US-China trade relationship has fluctuated between cool détente and outright hostility since Trump took office, his latest moves struck at the heart of the most important exchange of goods between the two countries: software that fuels the global AI revolution and the crucial ingredients required to manufacture the chips behind it.



Beyond the macro implications, the Trumpian roots of the crypto market turbulence may prove to be more consequential than the losses themselves.



Nearly 10 months into his second term, Trump and his family have fully embraced the industry —&nbsp;personally, professionally, and politically. The industry, too, embraced Trump, pouring millions of dollars into GOP election coffers. 



In return, the Trump administration has pushed policies that favor the industry, and it ended an era of oversight under former President Joseph Biden that prioritized regulatory pressure and legal combat. Congress passed <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/trump-signs-genius-law">landmark stablecoin regulation</a> and, despite <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/09/tensions-over-crypto-bill-boil-over-in-the-senate-00601479?cdlcid=5d23ad3c953109375ea49b92&amp;section=&amp;utm_campaign=cryptocodex&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=newsletter">disputes</a> between Republicans and Democrats, lawmakers are likely to pass market structure reforms sometime in the future as well.&nbsp;



Still, Friday’s events confirm that, despite the favorable treatment, the crypto market is not immune to Trump’s geopolitical whims. The industry’s march across Wall Street — ETFs, DATs, investments and more — means that crypto may inescapably rise or fall as Trump’s hot-and-cold trade war with China continues. Friday’s events could happen again, though perhaps not with the same scale or intensity.



The coming days will reveal the extent of the damages, the firms impacted, and the degree to which publicly traded crypto companies will be affected.&nbsp;



More broadly, it remains to be seen whether Friday was the start of a new crypto bear market — or the latest twist in its most important bull market yet.&nbsp;

Crypto liquidations drive historic market turbulence 

Norwegian authorities are investigating a potential information leak after online bets on this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner spiked hours before the announcement, suggesting possible insider trading.



According to local reports, originally <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-10/unusual-bets-on-nobel-peace-prize-winner-prompt-probe-into-leaks?embedded-checkout=true">surfaced</a> by Bloomberg, wagers favoring Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who received the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her advocacy of democracy, surged on Polymarket shortly after midnight Norwegian time.



The Nobel Committee, which made its decision earlier in the week, said it is treating the matter as a serious breach of confidentiality.&nbsp;



Kristian Berg Harpviken, director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, told reporters the spike “seems we have been prey to a criminal actor who wants to earn money on our information.”&nbsp;



As the Empire newsletter discussed earlier today, <a href="https://empire-blockworks.beehiiv.com/p/bloomberg-terminal-for-zoomers">data from Polymarket</a> show a user operating under the handle dirtycup placed about $70,000 in bets on Machado just hours before the announcement, netting roughly $30,000 in profit. Two additional accounts also bet heavily on Machado, with the three collectively earning around $90,000, according to Finansavisen.



The episode raises questions about transparency and oversight in online prediction markets, which let users trade on the outcomes of real-world events.&nbsp;



In 2022, Polymarket agreed to block US users after the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) ruled it was operating without registration. The Nobel Institute said it will conduct a full internal review to determine whether confidential information was accessed or shared unlawfully.



This is a developing story.



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This article was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by editor&nbsp;<a href="mailto:jeffrey@blockworks.co" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jeffrey Albus</a>&nbsp;before publication.



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Polymarket

Polymarket bets trigger Nobel leak probe in Norway

Morgan Stanley will lift all restrictions on which of its wealth management clients can invest in cryptocurrency funds, the firm told financial advisors on Friday, according to a CNBC report.



<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/10/morgan-stanley-drops-crypto-fund-restrictions-for-wealth-clients.html">Beginning</a> October 15, financial advisors will be able to recommend bitcoin and ether investment products to any client, including those using retirement or trust accounts. Previously, such access was reserved for investors with over $1.5 million in assets and an “aggressive” risk profile.



The policy change comes amid a broader recalibration in US financial regulation toward digital assets following the 2024 election of President Donald Trump. Morgan Stanley, which oversees about $8.2 trillion in client assets, is positioning itself to compete with digital-native brokerages such as Coinbase and Robinhood, which have grown their crypto offerings in recent years.



The firm also plans to enable direct trading of bitcoin, ether and solana through its E-Trade platform later this year.



Morgan Stanley’s global investment committee recently advised clients to limit initial allocations to crypto at roughly 4%, depending on portfolio objectives. Chief investment officer Lisa Shalett described crypto as a “speculative and increasingly popular asset class” that many—but not all—investors will want exposure to.



The bank will rely on automated monitoring tools to prevent excessive concentration in digital assets. At launch, advisors will be restricted to offering funds managed by BlackRock and Fidelity, but Morgan Stanley is evaluating other crypto fund providers as the sector matures.



This is a developing story.



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This article was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by editor&nbsp;<a href="mailto:jeffrey@blockworks.co" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jeffrey Albus</a>&nbsp;before publication.



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Morgan Stanley opens crypto fund access to all wealth clients

Kalshi, the US-regulated prediction market operating under Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) oversight, has raised $300 million in new funding at a $5 billion valuation, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/business/dealbook/kalshi-prediction-market-fundraising.html">according</a> to The New York Times on Friday.



The company allows investors to trade on the outcomes of real-world events—from elections to inflation data—and has increasingly attracted both institutional and crypto-native traders seeking regulated exposure to event-based markets.



The platform, founded in 2018 by Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara, operates legally under the CFTC’s designated contract market status, distinguishing it from decentralized or offshore prediction venues that lack regulatory approval.



Its new funding reportedly includes participation from both Wall Street funds and crypto-focused investors, reflecting a broader trend toward convergence between traditional finance and Web3-linked derivatives. Kalshi’s move into “hybrid trading” seeks to blend event-driven contracts with more familiar asset-class tools, extending its reach to professional traders and retail users alike. Event-based trading has grown as market participants look for instruments tied directly to data releases or political outcomes. Kalshi’s expansion follows rising institutional interest in alternative hedging tools, and comes amid regulatory scrutiny of unlicensed platforms offering similar services.



The company’s CFTC oversight and compliance posture have been cited as key competitive advantages as it positions itself at the intersection of financial innovation and regulatory legitimacy.



This is a developing story.



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This article was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by editor&nbsp;<a href="mailto:jeffrey@blockworks.co" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jeffrey Albus</a>&nbsp;before publication.



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Kalshi

Kalshi raises $300M at $5B valuation

The Bank of Russia will allow domestic banks to engage in limited cryptocurrency operations under stringent oversight, marking a controlled step toward crypto integration in the country’s financial system.



First Deputy Chairman Vladimir Chistyukhin <a href="https://bits.media/bank-rossii-opredelilsya-s-dopuskom-bankov-k-kriptooperatsiyam/">announced</a> the move at the Finopolis fintech forum, noting that while the central bank remains conservative on decentralized assets like Bitcoin, it recognizes the need to align with market realities.



Chistyukhin stated that the Bank of Russia will impose strict requirements on participating institutions to ensure crypto does not become a dominant banking activity. A draft framework would reportedly cap crypto exposure at 1% of a bank’s capital, paired with high reserve thresholds to mitigate systemic risk. “We hold conservative views and think about how appropriate it is for the banking sector to include cryptocurrency in its assets,” said Chistyukhin, speaking in Russian. “After discussing with the professional banking community, we came to the conclusion that it would be unjustified to exclude banks from such operations.”



The initiative follows growing pressure from Russia’s financial sector to ease restrictions amid persistent Western sanctions and ruble instability.



The country’s experimental legal regime for crypto transactions, introduced earlier in 2025, already allows qualified companies and wealthy investors to use digital assets for international settlements. To qualify, individuals must hold at least 100 million rubles in deposits and securities and report annual income above 50 million rubles.



Chistyukhin and Governor Elvira Nabiullina both urged the swift passage of a comprehensive cryptocurrency bill by 2026. The legislation would establish a licensing system for service providers and clarify the legal status of crypto entities operating in Russia.



This is a developing story.



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Banks

Russia’s central bank to allow limited crypto activity by banks

In the past few months, a new class of public companies has raced to amass billions in crypto. The largest, after Michael Saylor’s bitcoin-focused Strategy, is BitMine Immersion (BMNR) chaired by Wall Street strategist Tom Lee, which now holds about 3.75% of ETH’s supply, <a href="https://app.blockworksresearch.com/analytics/team/charts/3025">according to</a> Blockworks Research data.&nbsp;



That begs the question: will <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/eth-treasury-companies-growth">digital-asset treasuries (DATs)</a> turn their balance sheets into protocol leverage?



In principle, DATs can garner real sway, <a href="https://x.com/RyanWatkins_/status/1971053119631962230">suggests</a> Ryan Watkins of Syncracy Capital, while skeptics <a href="https://x.com/post_polar_/status/1969850373142986881">counter</a> that Ethereum’s governance process, client diversity and stubborn validator “social layer” make outright capture unlikely.



While the issue quickly enters the speculative realm, one thing that is clear is BitMine is in a privileged position among DATs, according to Watkins, because of its trading volume.&nbsp;



“BitMine’s doing, on average, well over 10x the amount of volume [compared to SBET] every day,” Watkins told Blockworks. “So it can raise money the fastest to buy ETH, and it&#8217;s just going to continue to scale.”



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1600" height="889" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-35.png?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-108881" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-35.png?w=1600 1600w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-35.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-35.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-35.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-35.png?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-35.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-35.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-35.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-35.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">At this scale, other ETH DATs barely register | Source: <a href="https://blockworks.com/analytics/treasury-companies/ethereum-treasury-companies/ethereum-treasury-companies-eth-holdings">Blockworks Research</a></figcaption></figure>







<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Where a DAT could matter</h2>



It’s early days and DATs are still focused primarily on how to grow their treasuries. Watkins sketched a plausible arc for a well-financed DAT if the easy capital flywheel slows.



“At a certain point, I do think that the <a href="https://blockworks.com/analytics/treasury-companies/market-data/crypto-treasury-companies-mnav">mNAV</a> alchemy will stop working as well, and then you&#8217;ll start to see BitMine getting more creative and aggressive, like deploying the ETH onchain and starting to be a bigger player in the Ethereum economy,” he said.



Influence would accumulate indirectly, most likely affecting application <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/governance">governance</a> first; if a DAT parks a nine-figure balance on <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/aave">Aave</a> or a major <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/liquid-staking">liquid staking</a> protocol, its views would carry weight.&nbsp;



“If you’re Aave and Tom Lee is 10–20% of your deposits, you might want his opinion before a big change,” Watkins said.



Then there could be infrastructure ownership. If the DAT starts operating validators, RPCs and indexers in a big way, it could shift who gets called when parameters or client development priorities change.



Talent capture is another risk. While hiring or even starting a core development team alone doesn’t move Ethereum’s governance process, a dense cluster of researchers and client contributors under a single treasury could be a kind of soft power.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Honestly, Ethereum needs to be thinking of counter attack strategies here. People will just build centralised proof of authority chains using the EVM, steal a decades worth of R&amp;D. And then poach all the devs. They are not your friends. <a href="https://t.co/GsNuqZcSek">https://t.co/GsNuqZcSek</a>&mdash; Nick Almond (@DrNickA) <a href="https://twitter.com/DrNickA/status/1963722781755056244?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 4, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Dr. Paul Dylan-Ennis, a lecturer at University College Dublin (known on X as <a href="https://x.com/post_polar_">Polar</a>), and avid <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/ethereum">Ethereum</a> governance watcher, pushes in the other direction. Ethereum isn’t a company, and the Ethereum Foundation isn’t a management team.



“It’s a weird polycentric system of people who have specifically opted into its ethos, which is a little ideological,” Dylan-Ennis told Blockworks.



He understands the assumption that “money talks” and, at sufficient scale, someone like Lee could wield ETH holdings to shape Ethereum’s direction.&nbsp;



“But that’s a fundamental misreading of how Ethereum works, both culturally and structurally,” Dylan-Ennis said.



The governance structure of Ethereum, from AllCoreDevs (ACD) calls, EIP editors, the <a href="https://www.ethcatherders.com/">Cat Herders</a>, and so on, are about coordinating processes, not profits. To “take over” Ethereum, a DAT would have to build consensus with client teams, and then convince a globally distributed base of node operators and validators to run its preferred code.



Today, public trackers <a href="https://ethernodes.org/">show</a> on the order of 10,000–15,000+ Ethereum nodes globally — a diffuse base that must opt in to any change. That is far messier than hiring a few senior engineers, in Dylan-Ennis’ view.



“Maybe Ethereum is not the perfect example,” Watkins noted, also referring to the governance process as “messier” than “a democratic or plutocratic governance system where it&#8217;s just clear who has the power [and] how much power they have.”



“For <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/solana">Solana</a> it&#8217;s more straightforward,” Watkins said. “You hold a ton of tokens, you vote with those tokens — that&#8217;s the impact.”



But DATs are in a “speculative incubation period, where we&#8217;re figuring out how to scale these treasuries the fastest,” he said. Right now, for a successfully scaling DAT like BitMine, there’s no pressure to get creative in governance. At least not yet.



Smaller treasuries are already experimenting at the edges. “They need to find ways to stand out,” Watkins said. So, we see ETHZilla <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ethzilla-etherfi-puffer">deploying hundreds of millions of dollars</a> into liquid staking ecosystems, for instance.



BitMine isn’t doing that for now, but the potential is there.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1600" height="889" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-35.png?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-108882" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-35.png?w=1600 1600w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-35.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-35.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-35.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-35.png?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-35.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-35.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-35.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-35.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Tom Lee’s BitMine Immersion Technologies Inc (BMNR) leads the ETH holdings race among DATs by a wide margin | Source: <a href="https://blockworks.com/analytics/treasury-companies/ethereum-treasury-companies/ethereum-treasury-companies-eth-holdings">Blockworks Research</a></figcaption></figure>







<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Ethereum’s immune system</h2>



Dylan-Ennis’ rejoinder is that Ethereum’s governance has repeatedly chosen caution over expediency. The project’s “immune system” is the combination of process and culture: rough consensus on ACD, conservative client teams across both consensus and execution layers, and a constituency of node operators who are ideological first and profit-driven second.



There’s no shortcut around EIP review, client implementation and building social consensus around chain upgrades. Any putative DAT push would still face these bottlenecks.



Coinbase — or any major stakeholder — can offer input like everyone else, but history suggests outsized corporate pressure backfires in credibly neutral systems. The closest historical analog is outside Ethereum: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/bitcoin-blocksize-war">Bitcoin’s 2017 block size war</a>, where a miner-exchange-VC coalition backed SegWit2x, only to lose to a user-led counter-movement.



The most likely outcome of a heavy-handed push, Dylan-Ennis argues, isn’t capture but a hard-forked ghost chain and reputational blowback for whoever tried, much like Bitcoin Cash (<a href="https://blockworks.co/price/bch">BCH</a>) is today.



Stablecoin issuers and exchanges can influence which fork “wins” by deciding what they support — exactly what happened during <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/ethereum-merge">the 2022 Merge</a>, when <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/circle">Circle</a> (<a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/usdc">USDC</a>) and <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/tether">Tether</a> (<a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/usdt">USDT</a>) publicly committed to support only the <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/proof-of-stake">proof-of-stake</a> chain, starving the <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/proof-of-work">PoW</a> fork of oxygen. Any future governance break would likely see similar alignment dynamics.&nbsp;



Watkins invoked the essay by Jo Freeman, “<a href="https://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm">The Tyranny of Structurelessness</a>,” as a potential critique of Ethereum governance: when formal authority is weak, informal centers of gravity emerge. “It’s not clear who has the power,” he said. That doesn’t mean power is absent.



“A good candidate for being one of these centers…is whoever holds a 10% mountain of ETH,” Watkins said. Influence, in that world, would mean coalition-building with large stakeholders, like exchanges and asset managers, and winning “hearts and minds” of operators within the ecosystem to adopt a given release when it ships.



The essay’s remedy — make authority explicit — aligns with ongoing efforts to refine and improve EIP/ACD procedures, suggesting Ethereum’s best defense against perceived capture is more sunlight, not less.



But it has to be genuine. Prior <a href="https://hackernoon.com/hows-that-open-source-governance-working-for-you-mphv32ng">analyses</a> of open-source software communities note the same dynamic Freeman flags: rhetoric of openness can mask entrenched, informal hierarchies — useful context when evaluating claims like “anyone can propose an EIP.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Open questions</h2>



For now, Watkins sees limited influence from Tom Lee, in part because scaling the balance sheet is still the main event. “He doesn’t even run a full node,” Watkins said, adding that staking through custodians presumably keeps BitMine’s ether far from having any impact on the day-to-day of client releases and parameter changes in the near term.



But the pace of accumulation, and the willingness of smaller DATs to push into infra, DeFi and validator operations, makes this more than a thought experiment.



Blockworks contacted a BitMine representative for comment on their future plans, but had not heard back at time of publication.



“We still just don’t know what the end state of these treasury companies will be,” Watkins said. If DATs evolve from price bets into policy levers, Ethereum’s norms will be tested in public.



The bet from Dylan-Ennis’ side is that those norms domesticate newcomers, rather than the other way around.



Vitalik Buterin <a href="https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2025/09/21/low_risk_defi.html">has framed</a> the cultural constraint clearly: “Ethereum is a decentralized ecosystem, and so any activity that Ethereum does cannot be a backroom decision of a few people, it must be viable as a cultural rallying point.”



You can’t fork culture, and you can’t buy legitimacy. In Ethereum, protocol control isn’t granted by capital, it’s ratified by consensus.



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Can money buy Ethereum? On power and protocol politics

Roger Ver, the early Bitcoin investor and Bitcoin Cash promoter known as “Bitcoin Jesus,” has reached a tentative $48 million settlement with the US Justice Department to resolve criminal tax fraud charges filed in 2024.



The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/technology/roger-ver-bitcoin-justice-department-deal.html?unlocked_article_code=1.sE8.xx5H.LlbKWwOXVl0N&amp;smid=nytcore-ios-share&amp;referringSource=articleShare">agreement</a>, first reported by The New York Times and still pending court approval, would drop charges if Ver meets all payment and compliance terms. The case underscores a marked shift in federal crypto enforcement under President Donald Trump’s second administration, which has eased pressure on high-profile industry figures after years of scrutiny under President Joe Biden.



Ver, 46, was accused of evading taxes linked to his digital asset holdings while renouncing his US citizenship in 2014. Prosecutors alleged he concealed the value of his Bitcoin portfolio before expatriation. Arrested in Spain last year, Ver faced extradition proceedings until negotiations began earlier in 2025.



According to the NYT report, Ver also paid $600,000 to political strategist Roger Stone and retained attorneys tied to Trump’s legal defense network in an effort to reduce his exposure.



The case follows a series of reversals in US crypto enforcement. Since January 2025, the SEC has dropped suits against Coinbase and other major exchanges, while President Trump pardoned Ross Ulbricht and the BitMEX founders.&nbsp;



This is a developing story.



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This article was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by editor&nbsp;<a href="mailto:jeffrey@blockworks.co" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jeffrey Albus</a>&nbsp;before publication.



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Roger Ver reaches $48M tax settlement with US prosecutors: NYT

Luxembourg’s Intergenerational Sovereign Wealth Fund (FSIL) will allocate 1% of its portfolio — about €7 million — to bitcoin and other crypto assets, Finance Minister Gilles Roth announced on Thursday, during the 2026 budget presentation. The move makes Luxembourg the first Eurozone country to introduce sovereign exposure to bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), a significant symbolic development for Europe’s financial landscape.



According to Roth, the FSIL will gain exposure indirectly through regulated ETFs rather than direct holdings, minimizing custody and operational risks. Treasury Director Bob Kieffer confirmed that the allocation follows a July 2025 policy revision allowing up to 15% of FSIL assets to be placed in “alternative investments,” including crypto.



As of mid-2025, FSIL held roughly $887 million, mostly in bonds and index funds. Kieffer described the 1% allocation as a balanced experiment reflecting Bitcoin’s “long-term potential.”



The decision aligns with Luxembourg’s ongoing efforts to establish itself as a fintech and crypto hub under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regime. The country hosts numerous firms seeking MiCA licenses, reflecting its ambition to shape Europe’s digital finance infrastructure.



Luxembourg joins a growing list of governments cautiously exploring bitcoin exposure.



Norway’s $1.9 trillion sovereign fund indirectly holds bitcoin through corporate equities, while the Czech Republic and Finland have signaled similar interest.



This is a developing story.



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This article was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by editor&nbsp;<a href="mailto:jeffrey@blockworks.co" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jeffrey Albus</a>&nbsp;before publication.



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