SEC

A year after Bitcoin’s October 6, 2025 peak of $126,080, it was trading near $85,000, roughly 32% lower; US spot Bitcoin ETFs lost $89.9 million on October 5. Cointelegraph Washington, meanwhile, is reconsidering who gets through a different door: private markets. On September 30, the SEC asked whether ordinary Americans should gain another entry route, potentially through an exam costing about $100. Behind that door sit private token sales and crypto funds. Who qualifies today, what would the new test require, and which crypto opportunities would it actually unlock? ...

On October 5, 2026, the CFTC opened consultation on a federal framework for leveraged retail crypto trading. Ordinary spot exchanges remain outside its proposed licensing system. America’s crypto rulebook has an opening draft, but no new binding rules. CFTC The initiative pairs Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions, or Regulation CTX, with Regulation Crypto Asset Markets, or Regulation CAM. Announced alongside Chairman Michael S. Selig’s appearance at the Fordham Law Blockchain Regulatory Symposium in New York, it sketches a dedicated federal market structure using powers Congress already granted. Its deliberate boundary is the critical detail: financing a retail crypto purchase could bring the transaction into federal exchange supervision; ordinary, unleveraged spot trading does not enter that system merely because crypto changes hands. Cointelegraph ...

$87,152 Intraday. $84,501 at the Close. Just 29,000 jobs helped finish a four-day collapse in October hike odds from 70% to roughly 13–14%. Bitcoin reached $87,152 on October 2, then closed at $84,501. The policy obstacle shrank. The rally vanished. Why? September’s ETF buying had nearly stopped, leverage had built before payrolls, and long-term Treasury yields remained punishingly high. A softer Fed outlook could remove a threat without supplying the next buyer. ...

Your Bitcoin exposure can look solid on a screen while leaving one uncomfortable question unanswered: who actually holds the assets? With BTC near $84,700, the SEC has put that question at the center of a proposal that could reshape how American advisers and funds handle crypto. The SEC Wants a Clearer Route Into Crypto Custody On Thursday, October 1, 2026, the SEC proposed changes to custody rules under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and the Investment Company Act of 1940. The objective is a compliant pathway for investment advisers and regulated funds holding crypto assets. ...

The SEC adopted its new quorum rule on September 30, 2026, just before Hester Peirce’s October 2 departure. The amendment explicitly permits one eligible commissioner to constitute the Commission’s quorum when disqualifications leave only that person. It takes effect upon Federal Register publication; adoption alone does not establish that publication has occurred. SEC final rule. After Peirce leaves, Paul Atkins and Mark Uyeda will occupy the SEC’s two remaining filled seats. Their agreement can keep crypto rulemaking moving, while disagreement can block action. The immediate test is the pending Regulation Crypto Assets proposal, whose comment period ends October 20. Commission staffing; SEC proposal. ...

For US Ether holders still carrying the memory of Kraken’s $30 million staking settlement, Friday brought a consequential change in the SEC staff’s position. On Sept 25, 2026, staff classified qualifying staking receipt tokens as non-security assets. Meanwhile, 1,649,594 ETH sat in Ethereum’s entry queue, and US spot Bitcoin ETFs closed a $2.4 billion inflow week. The relief is real, but the decisive detail lives in the custody agreement: can the receipt issuer use your deposited assets? ...

At 18:31 UTC on September 24, 2026, Bitget detected unauthorized transfers involving approximately $351.6 million from portions of its hot and warm wallets. Withdrawals stopped; deposits and trading continued. Its official security notice said cold wallets were secure and a User Protection Fund holding more than $464 million covered the loss. Those assurances were company statements, not independently verified findings. The Seychelles-registered exchange exposed a problem relevant to US holders even without a Bitget account: crypto held at an exchange is not an insured bank deposit. A displayed balance, a reimbursement promise, and access to withdrawals are three different things. ...

$86K Broke the Shorts. The Weekly Close Matters More. Bitcoin hit $86,332 on Bitstamp on Monday, September 21, a 33-week high and its first move above $86,000 since late January. By that high, crypto short liquidations approached $800 million over 24 hours. The rally reached roughly 5.7% on the day. Cointelegraph’s report captures the squeeze. The bigger development arrived before Monday’s rush: Bitcoin closed the prior week above its 50-week moving average for the first time in 45 weeks. My read: the squeeze explains the speed; the weekly reclaim gives the recovery a stronger foundation. US ETF demand now has to help sustain it. ...

Bitcoin just won a historic committee vote. It did not win a government buy order. The American Reserve Modernization Act would lock up qualifying federal Bitcoin, change the custody rules and demand an inventory. It authorizes the Treasury to buy exactly zero coins. On September 16, the House Financial Services Committee advanced H.R. 8957, or ARMA, by 28–21, the first full-committee passage of a strategic Bitcoin reserve bill. All votes for passage came from Republicans; all opposing votes came from Democrats. The committee’s markup record also records the adoption of Rep. Bryan Steil’s substitute and the defeat of Rep. Maxine Waters’ amendment, 21–28. ...

On Sept 15 the Senate voted 49–50 to deny cloture on the CLARITY Act (H.R. 3633). Sixty votes were required. The market-structure bill that the entire US crypto industry spent three years lobbying for is dead on this floor. Forty-eight hours later, on Sept 17, the SEC issued the Innovation Exemption. On Sept 18, Bitcoin reclaimed $80,000 — trading around $80,822, up 5.5% in 24 hours inside a $76,205–$80,944 range (CoinGecko). ...