U.S. CFTC Acting Chairman: Enforcement Division Restructured, Refocused on Combating Fraud

Chairman Tom Lee of Ethereum treasury firm BitMine stated that crypto-themed stocks led third-quarter gains, viewing this as a signal of a bull market’s launch. Unlike past cycles driven by ICOs, NFTs, meme coins, and stablecoins, the current cycle incorporates tokenization, AI, and a more favorable regulatory landscape, with a wider pool of participating capital. After years of consolidation, the market may see a more decisive breakout, with upside potential exceeding that of prior cycles. Lee also expressed optimism that Ethereum will strengthen amid the rollout of tokenization on Wall Street, noting ETH has a chance to challenge its all-time high this year.

SlowMist has issued an alert that MemTensor’s AI long-term memory toolchain has suffered a supply chain attack. Affected are MemoryOS, an open-source library for LLMs and agents (PyPI version 2.0.34), and the official plugin memtensor/memos-cloud-openclaw-plugin that connects to the OpenClaw runtime (npm versions 0.1.21, 0.1.23, and 0.1.25). These versions include cross-platform Go binaries that execute when the package is imported or the OpenClaw gateway is launched. Attackers can steal developer credentials including npm/PyPI tokens, GitHub/GitLab credentials, AWS keys, SSH keys, API tokens, and environment variables, then exfiltrate the data; the npm plugin may also leak user prompts. SlowMist recommends users immediately uninstall or roll back to verified safe versions (npm: 0.1.20, PyPI: 2.0.33), terminate related processes, block associated infrastructure, investigate network activity, and rotate all credentials in affected environments.

Eight days after the U.S. Senate rejected the CLARITY Act, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Mike Selig said he will use existing statutory authority to independently formulate rules for the crypto market structure, adding that it is time to act. The CFTC has submitted two pre-rules to the White House: "Regulation of Crypto Asset Transactions" and "Regulation of Crypto Asset Markets". Selig noted that the CFTC must re-evaluate all rules to adapt to the 24/7 on-chain market driven by algorithms and decentralized finance. The focus of these moves is on perpetual contracts: the CFTC can establish a designated contract market category to allow trading platforms to offer leveraged crypto trading under its supervision, though it cannot assert jurisdiction over the spot market. This still requires legislation, which is exactly the core of the CLARITY Act. As a result, perpetual contracts have become the most direct breakthrough, with Hyperliquid and Lighter being the clear recent winners.

Li Bei, a renowned Chinese hedge fund manager and founder of Shanghai-based Banxia Investment, warned of AI bubble risks in an exclusive interview with Tencent Finance. She noted that while overseas AI capital expenditure (capex) remains on the rise, its quarter-on-quarter growth rate is likely to peak by mid-next year. Earlier, cloud service providers’ increased investment was built on the assumption of rapid linear growth in AI model revenue. Extrapolating from first-quarter trends, total AI model revenue will reach around 500 billion yuan by the end of this year, exceeding 1 trillion yuan in 2025 and 2026. If this aligns with the current annual capex of over 1 trillion yuan, it would not constitute a bubble. However, in reality, annual recurring revenue (ARR) growth slowed significantly in the second quarter. Li added that the AI sector’s correction since July is not a "Davis double play" (a scenario where both valuation and earnings expectations plummet); only valuations have fallen, and the market still expects substantial profit growth in 2027. But if ARR fails to pick up, investment levels will become unsustainable, and capex will likely peak in 2027. If not in 2027, it will peak in 2028. She judged that the AI sector’s "second wave of decline" will only materialize when capex truly peaks and profit expectations start to decline, likely around mid-next year. When the AI boom fades, the U.S. economy slows, U.S. Treasury yields drop, and the U.S. dollar depreciates, China’s consumer sector may instead emerge as an "oasis in the desert" for global assets.

According to market reports, ONDO has partnered with BlackRock to launch tokenized "smart portfolios".

Stablecoin infrastructure company HIFI has raised $37 million in Series A funding, led by Left Lane Capital, with its exact valuation undisclosed. The financing will be used to expand stablecoin payment products and tokenized capital market infrastructure. HIFI currently facilitates on- and off-ramps for funds between U.S. dollars and stablecoins, enables payments via the U.S. banking system and bank cards, and provides U.S. dollar cash settlement services for tokenized repurchase agreements and U.S. Treasury transactions.