Escalating tensions in the Middle East boost safe-haven demand, with the US Dollar Index approaching its year-to-date high.

According to Bloomberg, cybersecurity consultant Jonathan Spalletta has been found guilty by a New York jury in connection with the theft of nearly $55 million from crypto trading platform Uranium Finance. Prosecutors alleged he carried out two attacks in 2021, which led to the platform’s shutdown following the fund theft. The jury reached its verdict after over two hours of deliberation. Spalletta faces up to 20 years in prison on money laundering charges tied to his use of crypto mixing services such as Tornado Cash. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff scheduled a sentencing date for February 16. Law enforcement seized more than $3 million worth of rare Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering cards, plus approximately $31 million in crypto assets from his Maryland residence. Prosecutors further stated that he spent over $600,000 on an ancient Roman coin commemorating the assassination of Julius Caesar, and $137,000 on an original Wright Brothers aircraft component that had been taken to the moon by Neil Armstrong. His defense counsel argued that he only used publicly available functions within smart contracts, rather than forging credentials or deploying malicious code, and thus did not commit hacking.

U.S. House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill stated that while the SEC and CFTC have taken steps to advance crypto regulation, these actions still fall short of the long-term stability congressional legislation can deliver. After the Senate failed to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act last month, the two regulators unveiled related rulemaking plans, but Hill argues permanent legislative changes are still needed to ensure the U.S. retains its leadership in digital assets and blockchain technology. In an interview with Fox Business, Hill said he remains hopeful Congress will pass the CLARITY Act during the post-midterm election lame-duck session. Between the November election and the swearing-in of the new 2027 Congress, the Senate will only have 22 legislative days. Election results could sway lawmakers’ voting stances on the bill. The two regulators currently have a combined seven vacant commissioner seats: after Hester Peirce announced her resignation last week, the SEC is left with only Chairman Paul Atkins and Commissioner Mark Uyeda, while CFTC Chairman Michael Selig is the agency’s sole serving commissioner.

According to on-chain analyst Yu Jin’s monitoring, the 3.75 million HYPE tokens (valued at $332 million) that HyperLabs, the development team behind Hyperliquid, applied to unstake seven days ago have been successfully redeemed just two minutes ago.

Coinbase will launch spot trading for Pons (PONS) on October 7. Should liquidity conditions be met and trading be supported in relevant regions, the PONS-USD trading pair will open today.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Wednesday survey shows that U.S. consumers’ one-year ahead inflation expectations rose sharply in September, hitting their highest level in over three years, while households’ views on both current and future financial conditions deteriorated. Respondents projected a 3.9% inflation rate one year from now, up from 3.6% in August, marking the highest reading since May 2023. Three-year inflation expectations climbed from 3.2% to 3.3%, while five-year inflation expectations held steady at 3%. The NY Fed survey also noted that in September, households downgraded their assessments of current and future financial situations and perceived that accessing credit had become more difficult. However, households’ concerns about failing to repay debts on time actually eased. Labor market expectations saw some improvement: compared with August, respondents viewed the probability of a one-year ahead unemployment rate rise as lower, their worries about involuntary unemployment over the next year weakened, and their confidence in securing a new job if they lost their current role increased.

Hunter Biden, son of former US President Joe Biden, published a post revealing independent investigation findings into the LAPTOP token launch, stating he has hired forensics firm Groom Lake to review all transactions on the token’s launch day. He denied his team engaged in insider selling, noting founder tokens remain in the same wallet and have not moved since launch; his personal tokens are locked for six months, then will vest over two years. Citing the investigation, he said Market Maker 1 held $500,000 in startup capital but only deployed roughly $5,200 and fewer than 30,000 tokens to the liquidity pool—just 0.003% of total supply. The extremely low liquidity pushed the token’s price from $0.05 to around $317 in under two minutes, before plunging 98% within an hour. 84 seconds after the price peaked, Market Maker 1 withdrew its funds during the sell-off, draining on-chain liquidity available to absorb sales at near-current prices from $16,157 to zero. He claimed Market Maker 1 earned roughly $686,000 from its DEX position, while Market Maker 2 netted over $2.1 million from related DEX trades, and argued the market makers responsible for the launch issues should repurchase and burn the tokens. He said he takes full ultimate responsibility, will not exit the project, and plans to burn most unclaimed tokens from the initial airdrop next week—this airdrop made up 10% of the total token supply.