Bitcoin Price Sets All-time High, Coinbase Seeks Banking Charter | Weekly Recap

In this week’s edition of the weekly recap, market momentum pushed Bitcoin to a new all-time high, surpassing $125,000, while institutional infrastructure expanded through Coinbase’s national trust charter application.

Bitcoin hits new price milestone

• Bitcoin (BTC) climbed from a 24-hour low of $121,500 to reach an all-time high of $125,500, hitting a new ATH
• Bitcoin’s previous record was $124,480 in mid-August

Coinbase pursues federal banking charter

• Coinbase, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, filed an application with the Office of the Comptroller of Currency for a national trust charter Friday.
• Coinbase now joins Circle, Paxos, and Ripple in seeking federal banking oversight.

Federal court dismisses Bored Ape lawsuit

• Los Angeles-based Judge Fernando M. Olguin ruled Thursday that Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs fail to meet criteria used to determine security status of financial transactions.
• The decision provides legal clarity for Yuga Labs and the broader NFT sector regarding securities classification of digital collectibles.

Robinhood CEO predicts tokenization expansion

• CEO Vlad Tenev stated during Singapore’s Token2049 conference Thursday that most major markets could establish asset tokenization frameworks within five years.
• Describing tokenization as “a freight train” that “can’t be stopped,” Tenev predicted it will “eventually eat the entire financial system.”

Sui-based treasury plans dual stablecoin launch

• Nasdaq-listed Sui (SUI) Group Holdings intends to introduce two stablecoins on the Layer 1 blockchain: yield-bearing suiUSDe and non-yield USDi.

UK government claims $7 billion Bitcoin seizure

• Authorities seek to retain approximately $7 billion in Bitcoin confiscated during a Chinese investment fraud investigation following the alleged organizer’s conviction.
• Zhimin Qian pleaded guilty Monday to possessing and transferring criminal property at Southwark Crown Court, following her assistant’s 2024 conviction on similar charges.
• This is one of the largest cryptocurrency seizures in law enforcement history.

Ethereum’s Fusaka upgrade succeeds on testnet

• Ethereum’s (ETH) next major upgrade completed successful testing on the Holesky network early Wednesday, advancing toward mainnet deployment.
• Fusaka introduces PeerDAS, allowing validators to verify partial data rather than complete chunks, reducing costs for layer-2 networks and validators.

Japanese financial firm loses $21 million

• SBI Crypto, a subsidiary of SBI Group, experienced an exploit resembling North Korean hacking patterns resulting in approximately $21 million in losses.
• Blockchain investigator ZachXBT documented that Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and Bitcoin Cash were looted on September 24 and deposited to Tornado Cash.

World Liberty Financial explores commodity tokenization

• CEO Zack Witkoff revealed during Token2049 Wednesday that the Trump-backed project is actively developing tokenized commodities including oil, gas, cotton, and timber.
• Trump’s involvement in World Liberty Financial and the launch of his own meme coin, $TRUMP, have sparked accusations of corruption and conflicts of interest from political opponents. Responding to criticism, Donald Trump Jr. said the World Liberty Foundation is not a political entity but argued that its USD1 stablecoin aims to bolster U.S. national interests by supporting Treasury purchases and reinforcing dollar dominance.
• The dollar has gotten weaker ever since President Trump’s inauguration, according to Reuters.

BNB Chain account compromised

• The official X account suffered unauthorized access Wednesday, prompting urgent warnings from Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao against clicking recent links.
• Fraudulent posts invited users to vote on “upcoming $BSC rewards” falsely promising early distributions to participants within 24 hours.

Ripple CTO announces transition

• David Schwartz revealed plans to step back from day-to-day responsibilities at year’s end after more than 13 years with the company.

Robinhood explores international prediction markets

• The trading platform has engaged with overseas regulators including the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority regarding potential prediction market expansion beyond United States borders.
• Discussions focus on regulatory frameworks that could accommodate the product in international jurisdictions.

Tether expands Bitcoin reserves

• The stablecoin issuer added approximately $1 billion in Bitcoin to reserves, bringing total holdings to $9.7 billion as USDT supply approached $175 billion.
• Blockchain data shows the “Tether: Bitcoin Reserves” address received 8,889 BTC from a Bitfinex-associated wallet.