Ethereum Co-founder: Ethereum Layer 1 should maintain low transaction fees, with tens of thousands of companies likely to deploy it over the next 2 to 3 years.

According to a report by the Financial Times, the UK crypto industry is entering a phase of regulatory implementation. Nick Jones, founder and CEO of Zumo, stated that the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will open its crypto asset authorization application window on September 30, with the new regulatory regime expected to take effect in October 2027. He noted that for a long time, regulatory uncertainty and counterparty risk have made financial institutions cautious about the UK crypto market, not due to a lack of interest in digital assets. As the regulatory path becomes clear, traditional financial institutions including Hargreaves Lansdown, the UK’s largest retail investment platform, are starting to enter the crypto market. The industry will gradually move away from offshore operations, startup-style business processes, and unregulated models, while the importance of compliant infrastructure and local service providers will further increase.

According to the Financial Times, the United States has ordered oil tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz to sail only during specific time windows to secure military protection. This follows Iran’s stepped-up attacks on vessels sailing at night. Since May, Washington has been providing air defense to ships taking the route along the strait’s southern side near Oman’s coast, aimed at countering Iran’s attacks and sustaining partial oil exports from the Gulf. Vessel owners must apply to the U.S. Navy Coordination Center (NCAGS), which then provides crews with required coordinates and grants access to a relatively broad nighttime time window, during which they are protected by U.S. aircraft. Emails sent by NCAGS to maritime consultants show that this window was cut to two specific daily time slots around early September, with vessels required to depart at the designated time. One email noted that NCAGS offers daily varying recommended transit times, which are not mandatory but advised to follow. Another email stated that given the threats facing commercial ships, "transiting during dark hours has proven not to be the safest time of day."

Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research and ex-girlfriend of Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), has joined nonprofit charity Manifund, where she is responsible for developing its funding platform and participating in charitable projects. Manifund co-founder Austin Chen said Ellison has been working there on a trial basis since July this year, officially becoming a full-time employee in August, and has published related work under the pseudonym "Carol". Chen noted he wanted to give Ellison a "second chance to start over", adding that she has admitted her faults, assisted in compensating creditors' losses, and served her sentence. Ellison pleaded guilty in December 2022 to fraud and conspiracy charges related to the FTX collapse, and testified against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried during the trial. She was originally sentenced to two years in prison, incarcerated in November 2024, and released early in January 2026. Manifund focuses primarily on AI safety and effective altruism projects. Ellison expressed gratitude to Chen for giving her a "second chance", saying she is glad to work at an organization that aligns with her mission.

Bitcoin's daily chart "golden cross" only held briefly before failing again. On September 12, BTC briefly rose to $79,837, pushing the 50-day exponential moving average (EMA) above the 200-day EMA, but later pulled back to around $77,438, with the 50-day EMA falling back below the 200-day EMA. This move coincided with a sharp rise in expectations of Federal Reserve rate hikes. Latest data shows the U.S. core CPI month-over-month came in at 0.3%, higher than the market expectation of 0.2%; CME FedWatch data indicates the probability of the Fed raising rates by 25 basis points next week has climbed to 86.5% from roughly 69% following the CPI release. The market’s repricing of rate hikes put pressure on risk assets, leading Bitcoin to give up its earlier gains. However, Bitcoin’s medium-term trend has not fully turned bearish. The 4-hour timeframe’s 50-period EMA remains above the 200-period EMA, so the golden cross still holds; the daily Average Directional Index (ADX) stands at 45, signaling the overall trend remains strong. Meanwhile, the 4-hour Relative Strength Index (RSI) dropped to 43.3, with short-term momentum cooling significantly.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has secretly approved at least three insider trading investigations into Polymarket trades, targeting contracts related to Biden pardons, the Iran war, and Google-linked events. The investigative documents were obtained by WIRED via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Among these probes, CFTC Chair Michael Selig approved the investigation into Biden pardon-related contracts in May, after a trader earned over $300,000 in profits from the relevant market. That same month, the CFTC also greenlit an investigation into Iran war contracts, following reports that a group of suspicious accounts had reaped $2.4 million in profits with a roughly 98% win rate. In July, the CFTC launched an additional probe into Google-linked Polymarket contracts, focusing on individuals who may have traded using non-public information about Google’s 2025 search rankings. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York is also conducting a parallel investigation. It remains unclear whether the aforementioned accounts are linked to individuals previously under investigation. Polymarket stated it will refer the matter to law enforcement and cooperate with the probes. As prediction markets expand rapidly, U.S. regulators are significantly stepping up scrutiny of insider trading and market manipulation.

Data from DeFiLlama shows that Huobi HTX’s net capital inflow exceeded $446 million in the past 24 hours and $438 million over the past seven days, with both metrics ranking first among global mainstream centralized exchanges (CEX).