SEC & Tokenized Markets: The SEC issued a landmark “innovation exemption” order letting blockchain-based venues trade tokenized stocks via automated liquidity pools, while leaving big custody and execution-quality questions for later. Regulatory Custody Fight: A separate SEC custody push would let some advisers self-custody when no permitted custodian exists, shifting competitive advantage toward state trust companies. SEC Leadership Shift: Commissioner Hester Peirce exited after eight years as crypto’s most prominent regulatory ally. Bitcoin Macro Catalyst: Bitcoin reclaimed the $87K area after a weak September jobs report (29K jobs; unemployment 4.2%), with ETF inflows and short liquidations boosting risk-on sentiment. Derivatives Heat: Bitcoin open interest jumped as traders added bullish exposure ahead of jobs data. Stablecoins Go Mainstream: Open USD (OUSD) launched for business payments via Stripe, Mastercard, and Visa rails, as the stablecoin market topped $300B. Ethereum L2 Shakeout: Blast shut down its Ethereum L2 after costs outpaced revenue, setting an Oct. 26 withdrawal deadline. Security Alerts: Core Lightning warned operators to upgrade after attackers targeted unpatched nodes; NEAR Intents’ $3.8M hack ended with funds returned. Institutional Expansion: Fidelity is exploring wider access for its Ethereum tokenized money market fund. Banking Adoption: Absa became the first African bank to offer bitcoin custody. Corporate Crypto: Supercycle Finance plans a BTC treasury that sells at cycle tops, not just accumulates.