Crypto sees recovered hacks and a bank-charter lawsuit as tokenisation advances, while AI faces subpoenas, firings and a joint safety pact.
What’s up, Pasar Crew?
This week, crypto pushed deeper into traditional banking. NEAR Intents recovered its entire US$3.8M hack after a 48-hour ultimatum, community banks sued the OCC over crypto trust charters, and Bitcoin briefly hit US$87,000 on weak US jobs data.
In AI, California subpoenaed OpenAI over models that hacked Hugging Face, the company separately fired three safety researchers for allegedly leaking sensitive information, and Nvidia’s market value hit US$5.7T.
Get up to speed with the latest in Web3 and AI with this week’s Pasar Pulse.
Crypto and Web3
NEAR Intents Recovers Entire US$3.8M Hack
NEAR Intents said the attacker behind Thursday’s security breach returned the full US$3.8M after a 48-hour ultimatum. The platform is halting its investigation and urged future researchers to use bug bounties instead.
Community Banks Sue OCC Over Crypto Charters
The Independent Community Bankers of America sued the OCC, arguing its approval of national trust bank charters for crypto firms exceeds the authority Congress granted the agency. The group wants the OCC to return to its statutory limits.
Absa Becomes Africa’s First Bank to Custody BTC
South Africa’s Absa Bank will offer institutional bitcoin custody, becoming the first African bank to do so, with other digital assets to follow. The move follows similar custody pushes from US and European banks.
71% of UK Finance Leaders Back Tokenisation
A Lloyds survey of 100 senior UK decision-makers found 71% expect tokenisation to reshape financial services, with 60% citing faster payments and settlement as the biggest benefit. A UK task force estimates tokenised finance could add US$44B to annual output by 2035.
Blast to Shut Down its Blockchain Network
Ethereum L2 network Blast said it sees no credible path to sustainability and is winding down, urging users to withdraw assets to the Ethereum mainnet. Its DeFi TVL has fallen more than 98% since peaking near US$2.2B in June 2024.
BTC Briefly Hits US$87K on Weak Jobs Data
BTC spiked to US$87,229 after September payrolls missed estimates at 29,000 against a forecast of 84,000. BTC later slipped back below US$86,000 as order-book resistance held near US$87,300.
ECB Outlines Three Models for On-chain Money
ECB board member Isabel Schnabel presented three approaches for putting central bank money on-chain, ranging from direct reserve issuance to tokenised, fully backed settlement tokens. The framework would preserve the existing two-tier monetary system.
Circle Pushes EU to Ease MiCA Reserve Rules
Circle urged the European Commission to replace MiCA’s 30-to-60% bank-deposit reserve mandate with a more flexible liquidity rule. It said only three of the top 25 stablecoins by market value are currently MiCA-regulated.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
California Subpoenas OpenAI Over Rogue Agents
California Attorney General Rob Bonta served OpenAI with a subpoena over its models’ cybersecurity incidents, saying developers can be held legally accountable. The case joins an Alabama subpoena and a 15-state coalition demand.
Nvidia Hits US$5.7T Market Value Record
Nvidia shares hit a record US$237.88, pushing its market value to about US$5.7T after the board added US$150B to its buyback authorisation. Weak US jobs data also cooled Fed rate-hike bets, lifting the broader market.
EF Launches Private AI Payments
The Ethereum Foundation launched zkAPI, letting users pay for AI models and other metered APIs without revealing their identity using zero-knowledge proofs. The system does not provide network anonymity and remains experimental.
Reddit to Kill RSS Feeds, Public API Access
Reddit will end RSS support on 13 November and close all public API access by March 2027, citing AI scraping while offering a US$1M migration fund for affected apps. The company has licensed data to Google and OpenAI.
OpenAI Fires Three Safety Researchers Over Leak
OpenAI said it dismissed three employees for violating policy by sharing sensitive information with an outside safety organisation. The firings follow months of rogue-agent incidents and departures from the company’s safety team.
McDonald’s AI Engine Sets Prices Per Restaurant
McDonald’s uses machine-learning models to recommend optimal prices for each menu item at nearly 14,000 restaurants based on local willingness to pay. Franchisees said the system has widened price gaps between nearby stores.
Trump Unveils Non-Binding AI Safety Accord
US President Trump released a one-page accord signed by OpenAI, Google, Nvidia and others, calling for internal controls, independent audits and board oversight of AI models. The pact carries no penalties for the parties involved.
Crypto.com’s AI Agent Still in Stealth Mode
Eight months after unveiling its AI agent platform, Crypto.com’s ai.com platform is still being worked on. Rivals including Robinhood, Kraken, and Bitget have since launched narrower AI trading tools.
That’s all for this week’s Pasar Pulse. Want more insights? Stay tuned to our site or subscribe via email!
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