Crypto news

Nearly $20 million in XRP was drained from 6,678 wallets in six attack waves between Sept. 15 and Sept. 20, according to blockchain analyst XRPL.to. The tokens, totaling 11.75 million XRP, were validly signed and moved, with over 5.6 million routed through THORChain. DCENT, the wallet provider, is investigating how signing keys were exposed and urges affected users to move assets to new wallets with fresh recovery phrases. The attacker used payment transactions and account deletions to extract funds, with some XRP sent to exchanges and cross-chain services, complicating recovery. DCENT is cooperating with Korean law enforcement and exchanges to trace and freeze assets, but has not announced any recovered funds. Users who may have exposed recovery phrases in the DCENT App Wallet are advised to migrate, while the company warns against impersonators asking for sensitive information.

21Shares listed Europe's first Zcash exchange-traded product (ETP) on Euronext Paris and Amsterdam on Sept. 22, trading under the ticker ZCASH with a 2.5% annual fee. The physically backed fund, custodied by BitGo, launched with about $100,000 in assets under management. ZEC spiked to an intraday high near $1,680 on Wednesday before easing to roughly $1,522, a drop of about 6.6% on the session. The European debut follows Grayscale's Zcash ETF (ZCSH), which launched on NYSE Arca in August and now holds close to $890 million in assets, completing a 3-for-1 share split on Sept. 30. ZEC's market cap sits near $27.5 billion, the ninth-largest among crypto assets. The ETP offers investors exposure to the privacy coin without the operational burden of direct purchase, though at a higher cost than typical Bitcoin or Ether funds.

21Shares has launched two physically backed exchange-traded products (ETPs) on Euronext Paris and Amsterdam: the 21Shares Zcash ETP (ticker: ZCASH) and the 21Shares ether.fi ETP (ticker: ETHFI). Both products, with inception dates of Sept. 21, carry a 2.5% annual fee and provide traditional brokerage investors indirect exposure to the underlying assets, which are held by institutional custodians. The European Zcash launch follows the U.S. debut of Grayscale's Zcash ETF (ticker: ZCSH) on NYSE Arca in August. Grayscale has announced a 3-for-1 forward split for ZCSH, scheduled to take effect before the market open on Sept. 30. The price of Zcash (ZEC) has risen significantly, trading above $1,500 on Sept. 23 with a market capitalization near $25 billion.

AVAX rose 55% weekly as Bitwise's spot Avalanche ETF (BAVA) on NYSE Arca attracted early inflows, with $231K in one period and single-day peaks near $5M. The fund, holding $18-$22M in assets shortly after launch, stakes about 70% of its AVAX to target a 5.4% yield, with a 0.34% sponsor fee waived for the first month on the initial $500M. The rally reflects Avalanche's enterprise positioning, including up to 4,500 TPS and partnerships with Visa and FIFA. If the staking model succeeds, it could serve as a blueprint for future crypto ETFs on staking-enabled networks. Currently, BAVA's $18-$22M AUM is too small to significantly impact AVAX's circulating supply through locked staking.

CME Group announced plans to launch Bitcoin Cash and Uniswap futures on October 19, pending regulatory review. The contracts will be offered in both standard and Micro sizes, with BCH futures representing 250 BCH (Micro: 25 BCH) and UNI futures covering 10,000 UNI (Micro: 1,000 UNI). The exchange said the expansion responds to growing demand for regulated tools to manage crypto price risk. This follows CME's 2026 launches of Avalanche, Sui, Cardano, Chainlink, and Stellar futures. CME reported average daily crypto futures and options volume of 279,800 contracts in H1 2026, worth $8.3 billion in notional value. If approved, BCH and UNI will become CME's tenth and eleventh single-asset crypto futures, joining Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, Solana, and others. Bitcoin Cash trades around $338 (up 25% on the day), while UNI is at $9.28.

European asset manager 21shares has launched the first European exchange-traded product (ETP) tied to Zcash on Euronext Paris and Amsterdam, following the recent launch of a Zcash ETF in the US. The physically backed product allows investors to gain exposure to ZEC through brokerage accounts. 21shares also introduced an ETP for ETHFI, the governance token of the Ether.fi protocol. Both ETPs carry an annual management fee of 2.5%. The move follows Zcash's strong performance, with the privacy coin surging past $1,500 and gaining nearly 1,100% over the past year. Grayscale's head of research has suggested Zcash could benefit from 'second-mover advantages' over Bitcoin. Interest has also spread to mining, with Fortitude Digital Mining reporting it mined about 28% of all ZEC produced in the first half of 2026.

U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded $998.95 million in net inflows on Monday, their largest daily inflow in 11 months, as bitcoin briefly surged above $87,000. BlackRock's IBIT led with $381.4 million, followed by Ark & 21Shares' ARKB at $289.1 million and Fidelity's FBTC at $238.8 million, according to SoSoValue. The inflow was the biggest since October 6, 2025. Spot Ethereum ETFs also saw $269.98 million in net inflows, their largest single-day since October 7, 2025. Bitcoin traded up 4.7% at $85,400, after hitting around $87,300, its highest since January 2026. Ether gained 2.5% to $2,730. Analysts attributed the move to renewed risk appetite, institutional demand, short covering, and a technical breakout above $82,000, with $1.06 billion in crypto liquidations over 24 hours, including $844 million in short positions.

US spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs drew a combined $877 million in net inflows on September 22, led by BlackRock and Fidelity. Bitcoin ETFs took in $714.7 million, with BlackRock's IBIT contributing $350.3 million and Fidelity's FBTC adding $257.4 million. Ethereum ETFs added roughly $162 million. The day capped a four-day inflow streak totaling between $2.1 billion and $2.3 billion since September 17, following over $450 million in Bitcoin ETF outflows on September 15. Cumulative net inflows into US spot Bitcoin ETFs now stand near $56.9 billion, with total assets under management around $111 billion, about 6.4% of Bitcoin's market cap. On September 21, Bitcoin ETFs recorded a 2026 single-day record of $999 million in net inflows. Bitcoin traded above $86,000 during this period, briefly reaching $87,000, a level not seen since January.

Bitcoin is set to end the third quarter with a 44% gain, its best performance since late 2024, far outpacing gold (up 8.7%) and major stock indexes. The rally has been driven by oversold conditions, a short squeeze, and a recent regulatory tailwind from a U.S. SEC exemption allowing tokenized stock trading. Despite the surge, prices remain 48% below the record high of $126,000, and other tokens like ETH and SOL have gained up to 150%. While some analysts see a full-blown bull market, they caution against sudden pullbacks. Bitcoin has also cleared a key technical hurdle, closing above its 50-week moving average for the first time in 45 weeks, and faces limited overhead resistance between $84,000 and $97,000, potentially setting up a move toward six figures. Analysts identify Coinbase, Robinhood, and Circle as potential beneficiaries of the SEC's tokenized-stock experiment. Ethereum is expected to benefit disproportionately from the regulatory opening as the leading blockchain for tokenized assets.

Binance has invested $100 million in Circle Internet Group, acquiring 1.24 million Class A shares at $80.84 each through a private placement completed on Sept. 17. The deal is tied to a new five-year commercial agreement under which Circle will pay Binance monthly incentive fees based on qualifying USDC balances, while Binance promotes the stablecoin across its platform. Binance cannot sell, transfer, or hedge the shares for up to two years but retains voting rights. The agreement replaces earlier USDC partnerships between the companies from November 2024 and August 2025. Circle reported that the previous November 2024 deal included a one-time $60.3 million payment to Binance and monthly fees, while the August 2025 expansion covered USDC held via Circle's Modular Smart Contract Wallet infrastructure with a four-year term. The new five-year arrangement includes undisclosed early termination conditions. Binance and Circle have deepened ties since December 2024, expanding USDC use across trading, savings, and treasury operations. In July 2025, Binance began accepting Circle's USYC tokenized Treasury product as collateral for institutional derivatives. Circle's broader distribution strategy includes a renewed Coinbase agreement, a Chelsea Football Club partnership, and payment network integrations, while Binance continues to expand USDC's role, including launching tokenized Circle shares in June 2025.