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More →South Korea crypto exchange profits fall 78% in H1 amid trading slump
South Korean crypto exchange operating profits fell 78% in the first half of 2026 as trading volumes, market capitalization and customer deposits declined. South Korean crypto exchanges saw operating profits fall 78% in the first half of 2026 as trading activity, market valuations and customer deposits declined, according to new government data. On Thursday, the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU) <a href="https://www.fsc.go.kr/eng/pr010101/87833" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">>said</a> average daily trading volume at domestic virtual asset exchanges fell 44% from the previous six months, while market capitalization dropped 33% and won-denominated deposits fell 35%. Exchange sales declined 41% over the same period, even as the number of accounts eligible to trade rose slightly by 0.4%. KoFIU’s survey covered 26 registered virtual asset service providers, including 17 exchange operators and nine custody and wallet providers, and covered activity from Jan. 1 through June 30. The figures come amid signs that South Korean retail investors have been shifting attention from crypto to the country’s stock market. In May, the value of crypto held by South Korean investors fell 50.2% to 60.6 trillion won ($41.4 billion) over roughly a year. Korean outlet ChosunBiz <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/south-korea-crypto-holdings-halve-in-a-year-as-investors-turn-to-stock-market" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">linked the decline</a> to capital moving toward stocks. A Cointelegraph analysis in July also <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/south-korea-crypto-volume-decline-kospi-retail-stocks" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">found that combined average daily volume</a> across Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax had fallen about 89% year over year during comparable seven-day periods, while the KOSPI, South Korea’s benchmark stock index, had more than doubled over the 12 months to July 22. Cointelegraph contacted Bithumb and Upbit operator Dunamu for comment. <em><strong>Related: </strong></em><a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/south-korea-travel-rule-threshold-crypto-transfers" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><em><strong>South Korea drops Travel Rule threshold for crypto transfers</strong></em></a>
Minecraft, Candy Crush Among 11 Games in EU Virtual Currency Crackdown
European consumer authorities have opened eleven coordinated actions against ten video games companies over the way they sell and price in-game virtual currencies, the European Commission <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_26_2018" target="_blank" class="sc-adb616fe-0 dJryYS" rel="nofollow">said</a> Wednesday. The Consumer Protection Cooperation Network, which groups national enforcement bodies and is coordinated by the Commission, named Activision Blizzard UK, Crytek, InnoGames, King.com, Mojang, Plarium Europe, PLR Worldwide Sales, Riot Games, Supercell and Ubisoft EMEA in a <a href="https://commission.europa.eu/document/75ff33d4-77a6-4f14-916a-766a8c6c281c_en" target="_blank" class="sc-adb616fe-0 dJryYS" rel="nofollow">joint statement</a>. The games are Diablo Immortal, Call of Duty Mobile, Hunt: Showdown 1896, Forge of Empires, Candy Crush Saga, Minecraft, Mech Arena, Gardenscapes, Valorant, Clash of Clans and For Honor, picked for their broad reach, availability across devices and range of age ratings. The actions follow <a href="https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/8af13e88-6540-436c-b137-9853e7fe866a_en?filename=Key+principles+on+in-game+virtual+currencies.pdf" target="_blank" class="sc-adb616fe-0 dJryYS" rel="nofollow">key principles</a> the network published in March 2025. Those say the real-world price of in-game items and currency must be shown prominently, that traders should not mix several currencies or require repeated exchanges in ways that obscure cost, and that players should not be pushed into buying more currency than an item needs. Bundles that deliberately mismatch item prices, leaving players with a stranded balance, are among the practices to avoid. Players also keep a 14-day right of withdrawal, the principles say, including for virtual currency they have bought but not spent. Contract terms granting companies the unilateral right to change the value of in-game currency, or to close accounts without the possibility of contesting it, are flagged as unfair. Children are treated as always vulnerable, and any game not aimed exclusively at adults should expect a significant share of under-18 players. It also classes high spenders as a vulnerable group, saying so-called whales "are likely to struggle with impulse control or gambling disorders" and that games built around them face a stricter fairness test. Crypto sits outside all of it. A footnote excludes <a href="/?post_type=post&p=5742" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" class="sc-adb616fe-0 dJryYS">><span class="sc-fe458747-4 eaOPgC">cryptocurrencies</span></a> and similar digital currencies that work as an alternative form of payment using encryption, along with virtual currencies as defined in the EU's fifth anti-money laundering directive. Currencies that can only be earned through play, and never bought, are excluded too. The regime is aimed squarely at currencies bought with real money inside closed game economies. The acti
The U.S. 10-year real yield is at 2.93%.
US stock market data from Bijie: The latest daily reading of the U.S. 10-year real yield is 2.93%.
Amazon warns that a data center ban would hurt AI competitiveness.
CoinWorld news, Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman warned that delays in data center construction could put the United States at a disadvantage in the global artificial intelligence race. In a blog post of more than 3,000 words, he pointed out that if the United States broadly pauses data center construction, "the consequences will last for generations." Garman said that more than 100 data center bans are being considered nationwide, and if these measures are implemented, the United States "may write its own losing ticket in this competition." He also announced that Amazon will invest more than $1 billion over the next five years in the communities where its data centers are located. Garman emphasized that the construction of data centers is vital to national security and the economy, saying, "We cannot afford to be careless on this issue."
An unknown wallet received 2,398 BTC, worth approximately $20.51 million.
According to data from Bijie.com: Whale Alert monitoring shows that 2,398 BTC (approximately $205,122,184) has just been transferred in from an unknown wallet.
Grayscale: AI crypto sector returned 54% in September.
CoinWorld data: A Grayscale report states that in September 2026, the AI crypto sector returned 54%, while the overall crypto market returned 24%. Among them, $NEAR rose 183%, $VVV rose 70%, $WLD rose 47%, and $TAO rose 37%. This trend may reflect growing market attention to blockchain as potential infrastructure for artificial intelligence.
Booking Holdings CFO：AI超级计算者也不知ROI
According to news from Bijie, Booking Holdings CFO Ewout Steenbergen said at Fortune's AIQ Summit that even AI hyperscalers spending tens of billions of dollars to develop large language models cannot accurately predict return on investment (ROI). He pointed out that companies using these models spend less than those developing them in-house and only need to focus on cost control. Steenbergen also mentioned that Booking is rebuilding its processes to improve the customer experience and expects AI to make travel easier and marketing costs lower. Although recommendations through large language models currently account for less than 1% of total room nights, he believes there will be significant gains in the future.
Bitcoin Price Prediction: Reaching Citi's New $113,000 Target Still Remains to Be Validated
CoinWorld news: Citibank has raised its 12-month Bitcoin target to $113,000. Bitcoin has now rebounded to $86,885, up about 2.7%. Citi noted that strong crypto activity, improving macroeconomic conditions, and renewed institutional demand underpin its latest Bitcoin and Ethereum forecasts. To reach Citi's target, Bitcoin would need to rise another roughly 30%. The key resistance level currently stands at $90,000. A sustained breakout above it would further reinforce the bullish structure and put the $100,000 target back on the agenda. Although institutional fund flows remain unstable, Bitcoin's rebound has cleared the previous resistance in the $80,000 area.
Ethereum Layer 2 network Blast announces it is ceasing operations.
According to Wu Blockchain, the Ethereum layer 2 network Blast has announced that it will cease operations, stating that the ongoing maintenance cost of the network now exceeds the revenue generated by the L2, and that there is currently no credible path to economic sustainability. Blast has asked users to migrate their assets back to the Ethereum mainnet and plans to shorten the withdrawal waiting time to 24 hours. Users can continue to withdraw through the normal interface until October 26, and after that they can still retrieve their assets through the Blast Bridge contract on Ethereum L1. Blast launched in November 2023 and completed a $20 million funding round at launch, with investors including Paradigm and Standard Crypto.
Bitcoin returns to $87,000 as US jobs data weakens.
Bitcoin reclaimed the $87,000 mark on Friday, driven primarily by a weak U.S. jobs report. The latest macro data significantly weakened market expectations for another Federal Reserve rate hike this month. According to CoinGecko data, Bitcoin jumped from around $86,000 to an intraday high of nearly $87,250. The U.S. economy added only 29,000 jobs in September, far below the 90,000 expected by analysts. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate rose from 4.1% to 4.2%. The cooling labor market is bullish for Bitcoin, as it makes the case for further monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve more difficult.