Federal Reserve Governor Jefferson: No Need to Hurry to Further Cut Interest Rates, Strong Economy Makes Caution Appropriate

Decentralized social network Farcaster changes hands for the second time this year. Network School, the firm owned by Balaji Srinivasan, has acquired Farcaster from Neynar; the deal’s financial terms were not disclosed. Neynar co-founder Rish said the company decided to transfer Farcaster’s app, protocol codebase, and related products to Network School after evaluating multiple acquisition offers, as Farcaster requires a different operational model for its next phase. Rish and fellow co-founder Manan will depart Neynar, while the rest of Neynar’s staff will join Network School to continue developing Farcaster. Neynar acquired the platform from Farcaster’s original developer Merkle Manufactory in January this year; the deal also included token launch platform Clanker. Rish did not disclose Clanker’s future plans; Adrienne, Farcaster’s general manager and streamer, and NourishProf noted Rish is considering spinning off Clanker and seeking another buyer for it. An in-app announcement for Farcaster states the platform will be renamed the "Network State Protocol", with the goal of building a network of voluntarily joined digital societies that will eventually be implemented in the real world. Users will need to choose to accept or reject a "social smart contract"; those who accept will receive an on-chain access NFT as a credential.

According to Chainalysis, one of the largest victims in the theft involving crypto hardware wallet manufacturer Ledger is also a scammer himself, losing over 60 BTC worth roughly $4.8 million. The funds originated from a task scam where participants were paid to fake sales and reviews for real goods. After the scam caused "negative balances", participants were told they had to invest their own money to receive their payouts. On September 22, the scam’s mastermind transferred the proceeds to three separate Ledger addresses. On October 9, the attacker emptied all three addresses, moving funds each via a single transfer to the same wallet, which has been linked to stolen funds.

Crypto trader Ansem posted a statement expressing high confidence that Bitcoin will see a sharp rally, noting that the crypto-native community’s current confidence in BTC is at its lowest point in roughly the past decade. He added that Bitcoin is one of the few assets unrelated to the complex AI investment theme, and also mentioned that governments will need to fund AI infrastructure development amid sticky inflation.

According to Bloomberg, people familiar with the matter said Binance.US is seeking to raise up to $100 million via private placement, targeting a valuation of around $1 billion, to expand its U.S. operations amid intensifying competition for digital asset clients. The fundraising is still ongoing, and the final size, valuation and investor composition could be adjusted. World Liberty Financial, a crypto project co-founded by former U.S. President Donald Trump, was aware of the fundraising, but another source familiar with the matter said the project is not participating at present. Spokespeople for Binance.US and World Liberty declined to comment. Binance.US launched in 2019 and operates independently of the global Binance exchange, but Changpeng Zhao is a major shareholder of both companies. In 2022, Binance.US raised over $200 million in a round with a $4.5 billion pre-money valuation. After Binance Holdings reached a settlement with U.S. authorities in 2023, Binance.US lost significant market share and is now seeking to win back clients to compete with larger rivals. The firm has also explored new business lines such as prediction markets. In terms of expansion plans, Binance.US is seeking to restore money transmitter licenses in some U.S. states and is discussing bringing in external trading liquidity, with potential sources including the global Binance exchange, though no specific plans have been finalized. The company appointed Stephen Gregory as its CEO earlier this year. The fundraising plan comes as digital asset firms seek to capitalize on a more favorable U.S. regulatory environment, with existing exchanges expanding product offerings and overseas competitors looking to grow their U.S. operations. World Liberty has ties to Binance: According to Arkham data, Binance holds the majority supply of its USD1 stablecoin. USD1 was also used by an investment firm linked to the UAE leadership to purchase $2 billion in Binance equity.

Coinbase Assets announced in a post that, based on recent asset reviews, Coinbase will suspend trading of Neon EVM (NEON) and Syndicate (SYND) at approximately 3 AM Beijing time on November 17, 2026.

Bloomberg reported that Binance.US is seeking to raise $100 million to expand its cryptocurrency business.