Coinbase Research: Bitcoin Breaks Key Support, Market Possibly in Early Stage of Long-term Downtrend

Ethereum L2 network Abstract announced that after nearly three years of operation, it will gradually shut down Abstract Chain, with on-chain services set to cease on December 15, 2026. Users can migrate their assets to other blockchains via the Migration Hub or native bridge, with the native bridge requiring an estimated wait time of roughly 3 hours. The official has reminded that assets not migrated by the deadline will become inaccessible. Abstract noted that its ecosystem saw significant growth over the past 18 months: its Portal became a leading platform for on-chain product discovery and distribution, while the Abstract Global Wallet (AGW) emerged as a widely adopted smart contract wallet in the crypto sector. The project has deployed over 144 applications, attracted global brands including Red Bull Racing and Disney, and accumulated more than 400,000 total users. However, Abstract explained that amid shifting industry conditions, its single public blockchain model focused on consumer crypto ultimately proved unsustainable. Growth was constrained by factors including a limited DeFi ecosystem, insufficient on-chain liquidity, low institutional participation, and tighter budget constraints relative to competitors. The team spent the past 12 months exploring new product-market fit, but ultimately concluded that continuing to allocate resources to maintain an operationally unsustainable, non-scaling public chain is not the optimal path—hence the decision to shut down the network. The official advises users to complete asset migration as early as possible, and warns against fake migration websites and direct messages impersonating the team, urging users to verify migration links exclusively through official channels.

Driven by strong demand for artificial intelligence, analysts forecast Samsung Electronics' third-quarter operating profit will surge nearly ninefold. However, since the end of August, analysts have trimmed their forecasts by almost 8%. Against a backdrop of slowing memory chip price gains and a stronger South Korean won, the memory chip maker projects third-quarter operating profit of 106.1 trillion won (about $79.1 billion). This would mark Samsung's fourth consecutive quarter of record operating profit, up from 12.17 trillion won in the same period last year. However, the slowdown in third-quarter price gains has amplified market concerns that chip profit margins may have peaked, and raised questions about the sustainability of the AI spending boom. SK Securities analyst Han Dong-hee estimates Samsung's third-quarter memory chip operating margin will reach 76%, unchanged from the prior quarter. Samsung is scheduled to release its preliminary third-quarter results on Thursday, with detailed figures to be published in late October.

San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly said that chip demand driven by the AI boom could spread from high-end AI chips to the broader semiconductor market, with some companies already starting to lock in memory chip supplies in advance and even redesigning products to reduce chip usage. She noted that the price pressure stemming from this AI-driven trend may not be a one-time shock, and the time needed to ease it could exceed the one to three years the Federal Reserve typically assumes. Daly added that she fully supports the Federal Reserve's September interest rate hike, and whether further action is needed will depend on whether shocks such as AI, tariffs, and energy prices pushed up by the Middle East conflict can subside. If these factors persist longer or overlap, further policy tightening may be required; however, if the shocks are only temporary, no additional rate hikes may be necessary.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he believes the Republican Party will perform well in the midterm elections, adding that his campaign rallies "really turned the tide". On the U.S. dollar, Trump stated "our dollar is very strong", while noting that a strong dollar can absolutely slow economic growth, but emphasized that a strong dollar does not cause inflation. Additionally, Trump said oil prices will drop after the war ends, noting that oil is still being transported through the Strait of Hormuz, and he reiterated that Iran’s current economic situation is "very bad".

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, people familiar with the matter said that Lambda, a cloud computing company backed by NVIDIA (NVDA.O), is raising up to $4 billion at a pre-money valuation of $14.5 billion.

According to GMGN market data, Solana ecosystem meme coin ZCAT has surged 76.33% over the past 24 hours, with its current market cap standing at $68.17 million. ZCAT is a cat-themed meme token on Solana, inspired by Zcash (ZEC) privacy concepts and featuring an anonymous cat mascot wearing a brown paper bag over its head. It uses a roughly 3% transaction and transfer tax to purchase and airdrop bridged Zcash (ZEC) on the Solana blockchain to holders. BlockBeats reminds users that most meme coins lack real use cases, exhibit high price volatility, and caution is required for investments.