Japanese and South Korean stock markets both slumped and closed lower, as South Korea's financial regulatory authorities convened an emergency meeting.

The Starknet community has launched a 7-day non-binding governance vote, asking STRK token holders whether they support further research into transitioning Starknet from an Ethereum Layer 2 to an independent quantum-resistant Layer 1. The proposal stems from StarkWare’s October 8 announcement that it is exploring this direction, aiming to enhance Starknet’s control over its own security infrastructure. The proposal notes that Starknet already uses hash-based STARK proofs and native account abstraction, enabling user accounts to adopt quantum-resistant signatures without protocol upgrades. However, key components like Ethereum bridges and data availability still rely on Ethereum, and the progress of quantum resistance upgrades is constrained by Ethereum’s development timeline. A transition to an independent Layer 1 is expected to eliminate this dependency. Regardless of the final path chosen, STRK will remain the network’s native token, no new tokens will be issued, and bridges between Starknet and Ethereum will stay operational. If the vote passes, the community will launch relevant research and develop a more detailed plan; if rejected, quantum resistance work will continue under the existing Layer 2 framework; if neutral, related discussions will remain open until key issues are resolved.

Despite the market drop, whales are still buying the dip! Whale 0x8E8b, who previously sold 2,050 $ETH ($4.93M) for a $1.08M profit, bought 6,010 $ETH ($14.23M) back today.

According to official announcements, ViaBTC has launched the "Mining Renewal Season" new user promotional campaign. From 08:00 HKT on October 16, 2026 to 08:00 HKT on November 15, 2026, newly registered users will receive a 30-day 50% off mining rate coupon, applicable to six mining cryptocurrencies including BTC, LTC, ZEC, and others. Specific usage rules are detailed in the official announcement. Founded in 2016, ViaBTC ranks among the world's top four Bitcoin mining pools and is also the largest ZEC mining pool globally, with services covering over 150 countries and regions. Leveraging its global node layout, multi-level risk control system, and comprehensive mining management functions, ViaBTC provides miners with secure, stable, and efficient multi-currency mining services.

According to Lookonchain's monitoring, address 0x68Ef had cumulatively received 6.76 million BTW tokens, but subsequently sold them prematurely, only cashing out around $85,000. Calculated at BTW's current price, this batch of tokens is now worth approximately $13.5 million, meaning the whale missed out on roughly $13.415 million in potential gains.

Rocket Lab announced it has pushed back the first launch of its Neutron medium reusable rocket from the fourth quarter of 2026 to 2027, primarily due to manufacturing issues with carbon fiber composite parts for the rocket’s first-stage propellant tank. The company still needs to carry out design optimization and adjust production processes. This is not the first technical setback Neutron has encountered: in January this year, the rocket’s first-stage tank ruptured during a pressure test, leading to extended subsequent manufacturing and verification work. The latest delay further pushes back Rocket Lab’s timeline to enter the medium launch vehicle market and compete with SpaceX for large satellite launch contracts, while also extending risks related to its R&D costs and commercial revenue realization cycle. Hit by the news, RKLB (Rocket Lab’s US stock) fell further in after-hours trading. Per TradingBeats monitoring, RKLB on Hyperliquid is currently trading at $54.53, down roughly 14.8% in 24 hours. A whale holding around 44,400 RKLB long positions was liquidated this morning, with a nominal transaction amount of about $2.49 million and a trading loss of approximately $740,000 (0x58f0). In an August 11 Bloomberg report, Rocket Lab had previously stated that its Neutron rocket project faced new delay risks, with the first launch possibly pushed to 2027. The company plans to deliver Neutron to the launch pad in the fourth quarter as scheduled, but has not confirmed the rocket will complete its first flight this year. Rocket Lab had originally targeted a first Neutron launch by the end of 2026. Earlier update: Rocket Lab warned of delay risks for Neutron’s first flight, potentially pushing it to 2027.

Insight Beating AI News Flash: 17-year-old AI researcher Nathan Chen (Chen Guangyu) announced on October 15 that he has recently left Kimi, the AI assistant developed by MoonShot AI, after working there for less than a year. He served as co-first author of the paper "Attention Residuals" alongside Su Jianlin and Zhang Yu, and contributed to the development of Kimi’s underlying K3 architecture, though he did not disclose his reason for leaving or future plans. Four days prior, Deedy Das, an investor at U.S. venture capital firm Menlo Ventures, shared the story of another 17-year-old AI prodigy. Deedy noted that the individual was not proficient in English at age 14, taught himself AI via large language models, then interned at a top AI company for a year. Admitted to a top-10 U.S. undergraduate university, the prodigy dropped out after just two weeks, and has since received five job offers from leading AI labs in San Francisco, each worth approximately $1 million or more. Given their similar ages and AI research backgrounds, some netizens have speculated that this teen could be Nathan Chen. Before joining Kimi, Chen completed a short internship in Silicon Valley, and his LinkedIn profile shows he attended Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) from August to September this year.