Son Min

The virtual asset (cryptocurrency) exchange Gemini recorded revenue that increased 52% quarter-on-quarter in its first quarterly results since listing, yet its stock plunged 11%, hitting a record low. On the 10th (local time), according to The Block, Gemini's Q3 net revenue was about $50 million, with trading fees of $26 million and service revenue of over $20 million. Credit card and staking services drove the revenue growth. However, the net loss was $159.5 million (loss of $6.67 per share), as stock-based compensation costs from the September IPO and marketing expenses heavily pressured profitability. Q3 trading volume was $16.4 billion, up 45% from the previous quarter, with institutional trading rising about 50%. Gemini is expanding its entry into regulated overseas markets, including obtaining a European MiCA (crypto-asset market regulation) license in August and entering the Australian market in October. Gemini's credit card secured more than 100,000 active accounts in this quarter alone, with spending of $350 million, double the prior quarter. Staking balances reached $741 million. As a result, service revenue accounted for nearly 40% of the total, rising sharply from below 30% a year earlier. Despite the strong results, Gemini's stock fell more than 11% after market close, dropping below $15 and recording its lowest price since listing. The outlet said, "The market appears to be focusing on the widening IPO-related losses rather than revenue growth."

It appears that the U.S. Republican and Democratic parties have reached an agreement to lift the federal government shutdown (temporary work stoppage). On the 11th (local time), according to Walter Bloomberg, John Thune, the U.S. Senate Republican leader, said, "We have reached an agreement that could allow the government shutdown to end tonight (local time)."

The U.S. government has announced new tax guidance that allows virtual assets (cryptocurrencies) exchange-traded products (ETPs) and trusts to receive rewards through staking. According to Cointelegraph on the 7th (local time), the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS), an agency under the Treasury Department, said it has created a 'Safe Harbor' provision that allows cryptocurrency-related investment products to participate in staking and distribute rewards if they meet certain requirements. The measure was disclosed directly by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on X (formerly Twitter), who explained, "This guideline provides a clear path for crypto ETPs to stake digital assets and distribute those rewards to retail investors." According to the IRS website, eligible staking entities are trusts listed on a national securities exchange that hold only cash and a single digital asset, are managed by an authorized custodian (Custodian), and are structured to mitigate investor protection risks. Bill Hughes, chief legal counsel at Consensys, said, "This Safe Harbor has resolved long-standing regulatory and tax uncertainties for institutional crypto ETFs and trust products," adding, "The major legal barriers that previously prevented fund managers or custodians from including staking proceeds in products have been removed." The guidance is interpreted as the IRS and the Treasury Department taking follow-up measures to secure regulatory consistency after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved crypto ETF listing standards last September. Meanwhile, the announcement came as Congress was discussing an agreement to end a federal government shutdown that had lasted more than 40 days. During the shutdown, many staff at key agencies, including the IRS and SEC, were temporarily furloughed.

Social trading and investment platform eToro saw its stock surge after reporting strong Q3 results and announcing a $150 million share buyback program. On the 11th (local time), Cointelegraph reported that Nasdaq-listed eToro's assets under administration (AUA) rose 76% year-on-year to $20.8 billion. Net contribution was $215 million, up 28% from $167 million a year earlier. Also, U.S. GAAP net income was $57 million, up 48% from $39 million in the same period a year earlier. The number of funded accounts expanded 16% to 3.73 million, which is seen as an integration effect of the Australian investing app Spaceship acquired in 2024. On that day, eToro's stock jumped as much as 7% intraday on Nasdaq. According to eToro, there were 5 million crypto transactions on its platform during October, an 84% increase year-on-year for the same month. The average investment per trade was $320 (up 52%), and interest-earning assets amounted to $8.7 billion, up 55% year-on-year. In addition, eToro announced plans to launch a cryptocurrency wallet within the coming quarter that will support prediction markets, tokenization, and lending products. Yoni Assia, CEO, said, "We are focusing on product innovation centered on AI and copy trading," and "We recently launched the AI-based investment analysis tool 'Tori' to provide personalized investment insights."

<Today's Major Economic Schedule> ▶︎11 (Tue): △US World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report (Korea time 2:00, US time 12:00) △US 3-year Treasury auction (Korea time 3:00, US time 13:00) △Japan September adjusted current account balance (Korea time 8:50, US time 18:50) △China October new loans (Korea time 17:30, US time 3:30) <Today's Major Cryptocurrency Schedule> ▶︎11 (Tue): △Slash Vision Lab (SVL) tokens 4.81 million unlocked △Aptos (APT) tokens 11.31 million unlocked

The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee announced a draft of the commodities section of the digital asset (cryptocurrency) market-structure bill (CLARITY). On the 11th (local time), Eleanor Terrett wrote on X (formerly Twitter), "The Commerce Agriculture Committee has released a draft of the commodities section of the digital asset market-structure bill." The digital asset market-structure bill aims to establish a regulatory framework for the digital asset industry. In particular, it includes provisions dividing regulatory responsibilities between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

The virtual asset (cryptocurrency) market has entered an overall correction phase, while privacy tokens (Privacy Token) are showing a new upward trend. In particular, Zcash (ZEC) has taken the lead, with its market capitalization surpassing $10.6 billion, putting it on the verge of entering the top 10 cryptocurrencies. On the 7th (local time), according to Cointelegraph, Zcash at one point surged to $655, recording a market capitalization of about $10.6 billion. It later adjusted slightly and was trading around $632, maintaining a market capitalization of about $10.3 billion. This puts Zcash at 12th in total virtual asset market capitalization. Market experts interpret this rally as a sign of a 'Privacy Revival.' They analyze that investor interest in restoring on-chain anonymity and expanding financial autonomy is rising again. In particular, Zcash adopts a dual-structure design that allows both transparent addresses (Transparent Address) and shielded addresses (Shielded Address) to coexist, and is evaluated as a model that balances regulatory friendliness and anonymity simultaneously. Market participants said, "Zcash's hybrid structure is suitable for both institutional custody and exchange listings, acting as a major factor absorbing demand for privacy asset investments." Meanwhile, privacy coins as a whole also rose during the same period. Dash (Dash) surged 141% over a week, Decred (Decred) 96%, and ZKsync (ZKsync) 122%. By contrast, leading rival token Monero (XMR) rose only 12%.

The Kazakh government plans to create a national virtual asset reserve fund of up to US$1 billion using seized assets. On the 7th (local time), Bloomberg reported that the reserve fund aims to launch in early 2026, and the funds will be sourced from illegally recovered assets domestically and abroad and revenues from state-owned mining operations. The fund will not directly hold tokens such as Bitcoin, but plans to focus on virtual asset-related exchange-traded funds (ETF) and investments in cryptocurrency companies. This move is seen as a concretization of the national-level cryptocurrency institutionalization strategy that the Kazakh government has been pursuing for several years. The government has been test-operating state-owned mining operations and tightening regulations on private mining companies. Earlier in mid-2024, the Kazakhstan Financial Supervision Agency announced plans to establish a national cryptocurrency reserve fund, saying "it will convert illegally acquired or seized digital assets into a national reserve form to strengthen economic sovereignty."

The decentralized storage token Filecoin (FIL) broke through a major resistance level and surged 60% in a day. The DePIN (DePIN·decentralized physical infrastructure network) sector has shown clear strength and taken the lead amid a mixed cryptocurrency market. On the 7th (local time), according to CoinDesk Research's technical analysis model, Filecoin rose from 1.33 dollars the previous day to a high of 2.27 dollars, recording a 70% surge over 24 hours. Notably, starting at 0:00 (UTC) on the 7th, trading volume of 72,800,000 — 247% higher than the 24-hour simple moving average — occurred, strongly breaking through the key resistance at 1.93 dollars. Subsequently, the price rose to 2.25 dollars and then settled above 2.00 dollars, maintaining the validity of the uptrend despite short-term corrective pressure. The CoinDesk Research model assessed that "by closing trading sessions above 2 dollars, Filecoin confirmed the robustness of the medium-term uptrend." This Filecoin rally occurred alongside an 11% rise across the DePIN (DePIN) sector. Meanwhile, Bitcoin and major cryptocurrencies were weak, and the CoinDesk20 index, which represents the broader market, was recorded down 1.8%. Experts assessed that "this breakout of Filecoin is not a simple short-term rebound, but shows that the decentralized infrastructure sector is forming independent momentum within the market."

Australia-based Bitcoin (BTC) mining company and transitioning AI infrastructure firm Iren(IREN) recorded record quarterly results and saw its stock rise in pre-market trading. On the 7th (local time), according to CoinDesk, Iren said that in the fiscal 2025 first quarter ended September 30 it posted net income of $384,600,000, turning profitable from a $51,700,000 loss in the same period last year. Total revenue was $340,300,000, up 355% year-on-year. Of that, Bitcoin mining segment revenue was $232,900,000, increasing more than 50-fold and driving the results. The company said, "Alongside strong mining performance, AI cloud computing revenue is growing rapidly." Iren has been pursuing a strategy in recent years to convert large-scale power infrastructure and data center assets used for Bitcoin mining into GPU clouds for AI computation. Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA), which is pursuing the same strategy, also reported this week a turnaround to profit and a 92% increase in revenue in its third-quarter results. Iren said alongside the results that a five-year $9,700,000,000 AI cloud contract with Microsoft would be a key growth driver. The contract includes a 20% upfront payment and is scheduled to be phased in and completed in the Childress, Texas (Childress) area by 2026. The contract is expected to generate $1,900,000,000 in annual AI cloud revenue (ARR).

JPMorgan said Robinhood (Robinhood)'s third-quarter results were overall decent, but weak revenue in the digital assets (cryptocurrency) segment and a one-off tax benefit were the main factors behind the strong results. On the 7th (local time), according to CoinDesk, JPMorgan analyzed in a report, "Robinhood's earnings per share (EPS) exceeded market expectations by about 15%, but this was due to the effect of a reduction in the tax rate related to stock-based compensation from the share price rise (about 52%) rather than operating performance." It added, "Robinhood's trading platform profitability is improving, but the cryptocurrency segment still determines the volatility of results." Robinhood's net cryptocurrency revenue was $268 million, below both JPMorgan's and the market's expectations, and accordingly the stock fell 11% the previous day to close around $127. After this earnings announcement, JPMorgan raised its price target for Robinhood from $122 to $130, while maintaining its investment rating at 'Neutral.' It continued, "Robinhood's results have many positive factors in the short term, but they are based more on one-off factors than structural growth," adding, "In future quarters, stable revenue generation in the cryptocurrency segment will be key."

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) emphasized that it must hasten a response strategy to tokenization to secure the competitiveness of its domestic capital market in digital assets. On the 7th (local time), according to The Block, Joe Longo, chair of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, said, "Tokenization has the potential to fundamentally change capital markets" and "Australia could fall behind if it does not seize this opportunity now." He added, "Tokenization can split assets into smaller units and completely revolutionize the structure of capital markets." He elaborated, "The Swiss digital securities exchange has issued tokenized bonds totaling $3.1 billion since 2021, JPMorgan plans to fully tokenize money market funds within the next two years, and Nasdaq is also advancing a tokenized securities market capable of 24-hour trading by the end of next year." He announced, "ASIC plans to completely revamp and relaunch its 'Innovation Hub' to support financial market innovation." The new Innovation Hub will operate an open collaborative model to address regulatory barriers faced by innovative firms, focusing on creating practical solutions rather than merely identifying problems. ASIC also plans to support the government's review of the 'Enhanced Regulatory Sandbox' to help grow Australia's fintech industry.

The Japan Financial Services Agency (FSA) said it will officially support an experiment to jointly issue a stablecoin involving three major megabanks: Mizuho Bank, MUFG, and SMBC. This is viewed as the first step for Japan to actively pursue blockchain-based payment innovation. On the 6th (local time), The Block reported that the Japan FSA said in a statement, "Mizuho Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Bank (MUFG), and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) will cooperate to test a plan to jointly issue a stablecoin." Mitsubishi Corporation, Progmat, and Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation are also participating in the project. The FSA explained that the purpose of the experiment is to verify whether multiple banking groups can legally and appropriately issue and operate a stablecoin classified under Japanese law as an 'electronic payment instrument.' It added, "We will confirm whether the system can actually operate lawfully while complying with relevant regulations." This demonstration project is scheduled to run long-term from November 2025, and the experimental results and legal and regulatory analyses will be disclosed later on the FSA's official website. This initiative is the first case of the FSA's newly launched 'Payment Innovation Project (PIP)'. PIP is a program newly established within the 'FinTech Proof-of-Concept Hub', which has supported fintech experiments since 2017, and was created to promote the demonstration and commercialization of blockchain-based payment systems.

Global major blockchain companies have formed a new body aiming to standardize payment transactions. On the 6th (local time), CoinDesk reported that seven organizations — Fireblocks, Solana Foundation, TON Foundation, Polygon Labs, Stellar Development Foundation, Mysten Labs, and Monad Foundation — launched the 'Blockchain Payments Consortium (BPC)'. BPC said it aims "to increase the efficiency of blockchain payments by building a common framework that meets traditional payment data requirements." In a statement the consortium explained, "Our goal is to increase blockchain payment efficiency by building a common framework that meets traditional payment data requirements," adding, "Blockchain payment networks are reshaping the global payments market, but lack of connectivity with existing financial systems has been pointed out as causing fragmentation and inconsistency for users and institutions." According to blockchain data platform Artemis Terminal, as of the 30th, stablecoin transfer volume recorded a 4.36% increase to 3.7 trillion dollars, and the total transfer volume for 2024 was 27.6 trillion dollars, exceeding the combined transaction volume of Visa and Mastercard by 7.7%. BPC said the framework will pursue integration of blockchain-based low-cost, high-speed cross-border remittances and regulator-friendly payment infrastructure. It added, "We will act as a bridge connecting the blockchain ecosystem, regulators, and traditional financial institutions," and "will establish cross-border interoperable compliance standards."

Fintech company Block (Block Inc.), led by Jack Dorsey, fell short of market expectations in its third-quarter results, and its stock fell nearly 12% in after-hours trading. On the 6th (local time), according to Cointelegraph, Block recorded earnings per share (EPS) of $0.54 for the third quarter, 14% lower than analysts' estimate of $0.63. Revenue was $6.11 billion, up 2.3% year-on-year, but missed the market estimate of $6.33 billion. Accordingly, Block's stock plunged 11.53% after the market close to $70.93. It also closed the regular session down 3.7% at $62.75, and the stock has fallen 18.24% so far this year. However, some indicators were positive. Block's Q3 gross profit was $2.66 billion, up 18% year-on-year, and annual gross profit guidance was $10.24 billion, expected to increase 15% from last year. The cash remittance platform 'Cash App' recorded $1.62 billion in profit in Q3, up 24% year-on-year, and the merchant payments service 'Square' segment also rose 9% to $1.018 billion. Operating income was $409 million, up 26% year-on-year. Cryptocurrency-related businesses are also being ramped up. Block's chief financial officer (CFO) Amrita Ahuja said on an investor call, "Proto, the bitcoin mining unit, has generated its first revenue," and "monetization has begun through hardware sales such as miners, hashboards, and ASICs."

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), a UN development agency, is launching a new training and advisory program to support national governments in adopting blockchain technology. According to CoinDesk on the 5th (local time), UNDP plans to support the practical administrative application of blockchain technology by establishing a blockchain training course for government officials and an advisory body. Robert Pasicko, who leads UNDP's fintech team 'AltFinLab', told CoinDesk in an interview at UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark, "The new blockchain academy will begin operating within weeks, and we will initially select four national governments to cooperate with." Pasicko explained, "This program is not just simple training," and "it aims to directly support the project development and implementation phases." The plan is an expansion based on the 'UNDP Blockchain Academy', which is already operating for UN staff, and the core is to broaden the training target to national governments to help adopt blockchain in public administration.

Coinbase's European unit, Coinbase Europe (Coinbase Europe Limited), agreed to pay the Central Bank of Ireland a fine of €21.5 million (about $24.7 million) due to an error in its transaction monitoring system. On the 6th (local time), according to CoinDesk, Coinbase will pay a €21.5 million fine to the Central Bank of Ireland. The sanction relates to a coding error that occurred between 2021 and 2022, which caused some transactions to be omitted from suspicious activity monitoring. Coinbase said it discovered the issue through internal testing, fixed it within weeks, and re-reviewed all related transactions. In the process, the company reported about 2,700 out of a total 185,000 transactions as suspicious, totaling about $15 million. However, Coinbase explained that "Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) do not indicate illegal activity and are a mandatory action under anti-money laundering (AML) laws." According to the local outlet the Irish Independent, the total value of transactions reviewed at the time amounted to $202 billion, which accounted for about 31% of Coinbase Europe's total transactions during the period. The Central Bank of Ireland calculated the fine based on Coinbase Europe's average annual revenue from 2021 to 2024 ($480 million). The investigation found three coding errors across five of the 21 transaction monitoring scenarios, and confirmed that addresses containing certain special characters were omitted from the filters. Coinbase said it has since strengthened testing and oversight of its transaction monitoring system. The improvements include strengthened pre-deployment reviews, expanded test coverage, and improved detection capabilities for high-risk activity. In a blog post, Coinbase emphasized, "We recognize the importance of anti-money laundering procedures and take our legal and regulatory obligations very seriously."

The U.S. Department of the Treasury is receiving conflicting interpretations and recommendations from the cryptocurrency industry and traditional financial sector ahead of the implementation of the corporate 'Genius Act (GENIUS Act)' related to stablecoin payments. On the 5th (local time), according to CoinDesk, Coinbase argued in its comment letter to the Treasury Department that "the provision prohibiting interest payments on stablecoins should apply only to issuers" and "non-issuer entities such as exchanges should be exempt." Coinbase emphasized that "this aligns with the intent of Congress when enacting the law." Meanwhile, banking groups led by the Bank Policy Institute (BPI) requested that the Treasury Department impose a "comprehensive ban including non-issuer entities." They warned that if interest payments on stablecoins are not broadly prohibited, "funds of about $6.6 trillion could flow out of existing bank deposits." This discussion was part of the second comment solicitation (ANPRM) the Treasury conducted to draft implementing rules for the Genius Act, and the comment period closed on the 5th. In a joint statement, the BPI said, "The Genius Act's prohibition on interest or yield payments should apply equally to issuers as well as affiliates, partners, exchanges, and all digital asset service providers." In response, Coinbase rebutted, saying "Congress did not include non-issuer entities in the prohibition to avoid stifling innovation and growth in the stablecoin market," and "the Treasury Department does not have the authority to reinterpret Congress's decision." Coinbase also proposed in its comment letter ▲exemptions for nonfinancial software and blockchain validators and open-source protocols from regulation ▲recognition of payment stablecoins as cash equivalents for accounting and tax purposes. The Genius Act was enacted last July, and its effective date is scheduled to be 18 months after promulgation or 120 days after related rules are finalized. Implementation is expected between late 2026 and early 2027.

U.S. asset manager Franklin Templeton (Franklin Templeton) has unveiled a blockchain-based dollar money market fund for institutional investors in Hong Kong. It is part of a strategy to expand tokenized finance in the Asian market. On the 6th (local time), CoinDesk reported that Franklin Templeton said it launched the tokenized money market fund 'Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund' in Hong Kong. The fund invests in short-term U.S. Treasury securities, and the fund shares are issued in token form. Franklin Templeton said, "Through a blockchain-based structure, we expect improved transaction speed, increased transparency, and cost reductions." With this launch, Franklin Templeton is participating in the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA)'s tokenized finance experiment project 'Project Ensemble' and will also contribute to strengthening Hong Kong's institutional digital asset ecosystem. Tariq Ahmad, head of Asia-Pacific (APAC), said, "This launch is an example of our commitment to expanding tokenized investment products in Asia."

Global payments company Mastercard (Mastercard) is partnering with Ripple (Ripple) and Gemini (Gemini) to utilize Ripple's blockchain network, the XRP Ledger (XRPL), and conduct a payment settlement experiment using the stablecoin 'RLUSD'. According to The Block on the 5th (local time), the three companies said in a joint statement, "This project will be one of the first collaborations in which a U.S. regulated bank uses a regulated stablecoin on a public blockchain to settle existing card transactions." This collaboration aims to increase the efficiency of blockchain-based payments and enable card users to utilize cryptocurrencies in everyday payment processes. Recently, the crypto asset industry has been actively seeking to expand transaction revenues and attract new customers by issuing payment cards. The XRP Ledger (XRPL), led by Ripple, is an open-source blockchain developed to improve payment speed and cost efficiency. RLUSD is a dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Ripple and will be used in this payment settlement experiment. Gemini is a cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2014 by brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, and issues an XRP reward credit card in partnership with WebBank (WebBank). WebBank is also participating as a settlement partner in this project. Gemini Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Dan Chen (Dan Chen) said, "The Gemini credit card is taking the way it integrates digital assets into everyday spending to the next level."