Circle signs official jersey sponsorship deal with Chelsea, to display brand logos including USDC.

According to DefiLlama data, as of October 21, 43 price manipulation attacks have been recorded in the DeFi sector in 2026, exceeding the previous full-year high of 27 cases set in 2022. Total losses from these attacks stand at roughly $199 million, lower than loss volumes seen in some years. The Tectonic incident alone accounts for around $124.5 million of this total, while 32 of the remaining 42 attacks each caused losses of less than $1 million.

Trader Killa has published an article outlining the pullback framework for the current bull market. He noted that the previous bear market saw a maximum drawdown of roughly 77%–78%, and before Bitcoin hit its prior high of around $126,000 in the last bull run, the maximum pullback stood at about 20%–22%. This current bear market has recorded a drawdown of approximately 54%; by proportional calculation, a major pullback in this bull market could land between 10% and 15%. Killa pointed out that Bitcoin has already fallen around 10% from its recent peak, and combined with the current position, this round of pullback may be nearing its end, with an upward trend likely to follow afterward.

ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone stated in an interview that the digital euro, set to launch a pilot program next year, is expected to grant the EU "sovereignty" over its payment infrastructure and reduce dependence on third parties outside Europe. He pointed out that in recent years, Europe has come to recognize that critical services such as energy and defense cannot rely solely on external sources, and the same holds true for payments. Cipollone emphasized that sovereignty does not mean excluding third parties, but rather retaining the option to ensure that this critical service—payments—can also rely on Europe’s own capabilities. The pilot will involve real transactions conducted by staff from the ECB and national central banks. Currently, 36 market institutions are participating in preparations, and e-commerce and mobile commerce operators have also been invited to join. According to the plan, if relevant legislation is passed this year, the ECB Governing Council can make a formal decision on issuance, with real transaction tests expected to take place in 2027, and the digital euro could be rolled out as early as 2029. Cipollone also noted earlier that non-European companies dominate roughly two-thirds of card transactions in the euro area, and the digital euro is expected to cut this reliance.

Hyperliquid is set to list tokenized US stocks and ETF spot assets issued by EQX Labs. The first batch comprises 11 HIP-1 spot markets, all priced in USDC, with underlying assets including EQSPY and EQQQQ (which track the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 respectively) and EQNVDA, EQTSLA, EQAAPL, EQMSFT, EQAMZN, EQGOOG, EQMETA, EQMU, and EQSPCX, corresponding to Nvidia, Tesla, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Micron, and SpaceX. Trading will officially commence at 21:30 Beijing Time on October 26, equivalent to 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time on the same day. The relevant tokens have been registered and launched on Hyperliquid’s mainnet but are not yet open for official order matching. On the issuance side, EQX notes the tokens are backed by real shares at a 1:1 ratio, legally structured as limited recourse debt instruments issued by a British Virgin Islands segregated portfolio company (rather than direct stock holdings), and are not accessible to US persons.

Orient Harbor Fund Chairman Dan Bin has made a major position adjustment in the tech sector. Data from Private Fund Ranking shows that as of the end of Q3 2026, Orient Harbor’s overseas funds held 13 US-listed stocks, with a combined market value of roughly $1.469 billion. AI remains a core investment focus for the firm; as of Q3 end, Alphabet Inc. (Google) is its top overseas holding. However, Dan Bin’s preference for AI sub-sectors has shifted notably from Q2, per position adjustment data. In Q3, Orient Harbor’s overseas funds reduced holdings of stocks newly added in Q2—including AMD, Broadcom, and Lumentum—while increasing stakes in storage giants Micron Technology and SanDisk, as well as NVIDIA, Alphabet Inc. Class C, and TSMC.

U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis, sponsor of the Bitcoin Strategic Reserve Act, posted that Democrats had requested lowering the annual cap for cryptocurrency regulatory funding from $75 million to $50 million and adding a $200 million lifetime cap. These provisions were agreed and written into the Cryptocurrency Market Structure Act (the CLARITY Act). Lummis later said Democrats still voted against the legislation, which is designed to protect retail investors.