Leading DeFi researcher questions Ethereum’s Layer 2 strategy: Robinhood’s revenue has surged, yet Layer 1 settlement layer revenue remains low—Is this a problem?

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.

Stripe co-founder Patrick Collison wrote that since Privy joined Stripe over a year ago, its wallet assets have grown roughly 25 times, monthly active developers have tripled, revenue has increased ninefold, and it now facilitates nearly $25 billion in transactions monthly. Companies including Ramp, Deel, Klarna, and Hyperliquid are building embedded banking features on Privy. Stripe is deeply integrating Privy into its Treasury, Link, and Connect products to accelerate global expansion and feature development, and plans to launch a Link balance feature. Privy’s wallet infrastructure now supports AI agents for transactions and revenue generation, with use cases including Merit Systems and Nevermined. Collison forecasts that the agent economy will continue its rapid growth. The two sides are building a unified API that supports holding stablecoin balances and earning yields, fiat on- and off-ramps, and card-based spending. Collison also noted that significant integration work remains between Privy, Bridge, and Stripe’s other business units.