The market this morning

CFTC moves to pull event contracts under swaps rules as Blockchain.com files to run its own US venue

By Crypto Info News

Good morning. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission is proposing a formal rule to fold certain event contracts — including those traded on platforms like Kalshi's — into swaps regulation that would require the agency's oversight, CoinDesk reported, with the move coming "as legal fight rages."

The policy question was not abstract. Blockchain.com filed for designated contract market and futures commission merchant licences, which Decrypt reported would let it run its own regulated event-contract venue instead of relying on overseas partners. Cointelegraph, citing CNBC, separately reported the company had applied for two licences with the regulator as courts weigh prediction-markets cases.

Enforcement and sanctions ran alongside. Cointelegraph reported that Scott Bessent said the Treasury Department plans to seize $1B in crypto linked to Iran this week as part of US sanctions. The UK designated crypto payment processors Cryptomus, Heleket and TokenSpot in new sanctions aimed at infrastructure supporting Russia's wartime economy, according to Chainalysis. And New York permanently barred Celsius founder Mashinsky from the cryptocurrency, securities and commodities industries in a $35M fraud settlement resolving a 2023 civil suit, Cointelegraph reported.

Tether drew scrutiny from two directions. Decrypt reported that Senator Richard Blumenthal pressed Cantor Fitzgerald to open its records on Tether and on how much Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's family has earned from its business dealings. Separately, Cointelegraph reported that THORChain technical co-founder Chad Barraford accused Tether of temporarily freezing USDT vaults, saying the funds were frozen and then unfrozen without explanation.

In markets, Bitcoin closed at $82,564.29, up 1.08% over 24 hours; Ether closed at $2,485.70, up 0.52%. Decrypt reported that Bitcoin rebounded after dipping to around $80,000, while traders placed increasingly high odds on a further slip before October ends.

Infrastructure and product news filled out the day. Decrypt reported that Ethereum layer-2 Starknet rose 20% after saying it is "actively considering" becoming its own layer-1, a move it says would make it the first fully quantum-resistant network by 2027. CoinDesk reported that Robinhood Chain is considering "Time Boost," transaction-ordering technology that gives paying traders priority, via Arbitrum. Cointelegraph reported that HSBC and Ant Digital tested AI-agent payments using HSBC's tokenized deposits.

On security, Cointelegraph reported that Ledger is investigating fund losses tied to reseller CryptoBilis, as researchers separately estimated more than $72 million to $86 million in suspected crypto thefts.

Finally, The Block reported that former FTX COO Constance Wang said Netflix's "The Altruists" trailer "made me physically throw up," arguing it misrepresents FTX's collapse.