PHP Foundation Admits Structural Flaws, Delays Fix for Critical Security Vulnerability

Aerodrome and Velodrome have officially completed their merger, launching a unified on-chain spot trading platform called Aero. The new platform will operate across seven networks: Ethereum Mainnet, Base, Robinhood Chain, Ink, OP Mainnet, Arc, and Arbitrum, integrating the operations of the two decentralized exchanges into a single platform. The core focus of the merger is the unification of the token system. Original AERO and VELO tokens will be migrated to the new AERO token, with old AERO swapped at a 1:1 ratio, and VELO converted at a rate of 1 VELO = 0.044 AERO. Existing veAERO and veVELO staked positions will be converted to sAERO. Binance announced on October 16 that it supports the token merger and contract swap, providing a migration path for existing holders. Prior to the merger, Aerodrome and Velodrome already held leading positions in their respective ecosystems: in Q3 2026, Aerodrome accounted for 58% of DEX trading volume on Base, while Velodrome captured 60% of DEX volume on OP Mainnet. Aerodrome also ranked first among all DEXs in Bitcoin-USD trading volume during the same period. The seven networks covered by Aero collectively handle approximately $120 billion in monthly DEX trading volume.

Online business platform Whop announced on October 21 that it has closed a $200 million Series D funding round, with a post-money valuation of $5.1 billion. The round was co-led by Sequoia Capital and Shopify’s investment arm, Shopify Ventures. Some market reports have cited the funding amount as $205 million, but the official figure from the company’s announcement is $200 million. This financing comes less than a year after Whop’s previous funding round. In February 2026, Tether made a $200 million strategic investment in Whop at a $1.6 billion valuation, meaning the company’s valuation has more than tripled in under a year. Headquartered in Palo Alto, Whop was founded in 2021 by three co-founders who met as teenagers while developing sneaker release tracking software. Co-founder Steven Schwartz serves as CEO. The platform caters to individual entrepreneurs and small businesses, offering one-stop infrastructure covering business setup, payment distribution and operational tools. Currently, around 25,000 merchants conduct business via Whop, generating approximately $550 million in monthly transaction volume on the platform, while also creating income streams for over 50,000 related service providers. Its revenue mainly comes from commissions on platform transactions, with an average combined rate of around 6%.

Robinhood’s Middle East expansion has shifted from planning to tangible implementation. According to multiple sources, the firm has selected the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) as its regional headquarters for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, and submitted a Category 4 license application to the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) to secure regulatory approval for offering trading services in the UAE. If approved, Robinhood will serve clients in the UAE and across the broader MENA region, with its operational base located at DIFC.

SSV Labs recently submitted the DIP-59 proposal, requesting an extension of network management authorization to June 30, 2027, along with major adjustments to its budget and work scope. The proposal marks SSV’s shift from an expansion strategy to a “maintenance-first” approach amid market and funding pressures. On the technical roadmap, the second half of 2026 will focus on completing the Boole network fork and supporting Ethereum’s ePBS upgrade; the first half of 2027 will enter a pure maintenance period with no new product development. Financially, SSV Labs has scaled back its funding requests: it is seeking 1.5 million USDC for 2026, and 2.7 million SSV tokens (including an option conversion mechanism) for the first half of 2027. The proposal waives certain previously due outstanding funds and requires a $900,000 asset as payment collateral.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced on October 16 that his office has reached a $500,000 settlement with Fidelity Digital Assets, National Association, the successor entity to Fidelity Digital Asset Services. The settlement addresses restrictions Fidelity previously imposed on California retail customers transferring cryptocurrency off its platform, which regulators deemed potentially violated California’s 1990 Commodity Law. Under that statute, certain speculative commodity contracts are restricted unless the buyer obtains physical delivery within a set timeframe, and state authorities view the ability to withdraw cryptocurrency as the functional equivalent of such delivery. From November 2022 to April 2025, California customers could trade cryptocurrency on Fidelity’s platform but were barred from sending assets directly to external wallets. Fidelity attributed the restriction to its then-regulator, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), failing to grant required approval. The approval was secured in April 2025, and the transfer function was extended to all California retail customers in June 2025.

According to on-chain data analyst @ai_9684xtpa, a whale address (0xdeA…a1d5c) that has been using a loop lending strategy to long ETH since the end of September added 9,000 ETH to its position, successfully bringing its average long cost down to $2,553.31. Currently, the address has deposited 18,500.54 WETH (worth around $45.53 million) as collateral on the Aave protocol, borrowed $25.01 million in stablecoins, and holds a position health factor of 1.51. Since September 29, the address has cumulatively withdrawn 12,549.9 ETH (approximately $32.04 million) from Binance through this approach, with its average entry and average add-to-position price range falling from $2,736.47 to $2,460.