Ndax Weekly TL;DR Oct 26

Washington shifts stablecoin legislation into operating rules

• The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued its final rule implementing the GENIUS Act last Wednesday. The rule sets requirements for payment stablecoin issuers under its supervision and takes effect on January 18, 2027. The framework establishes standards for reserve backing, redemptions, risk management, and certain custody activities. (Forbes)
• Why it matters: The GENIUS Act established the legal foundation for U.S. payment stablecoins, but issuers and financial institutions still needed more detailed operating requirements to evaluate and prepare compliant products. Finalizing the rule makes reserve management, redemption obligations, and supervisory expectations more concrete. This could help banks and other companies evaluate whether to enter the stablecoin market and provide greater clarity on compliance costs for existing issuers.

Solana takes a major step toward near-instant settlement

• Solana activated its Alpenglow consensus upgrade on mainnet, replacing its previous TowerBFT voting system with a new mechanism called Votor. The upgrade targets block finality of approximately 150 milliseconds, marking a significant improvement from roughly 12.8 seconds under the previous system. Alpenglow’s separate Rotor block-propagation component remains scheduled for a later release. (CoinDesk)
• Why it matters: Rapid confirmation and final settlement are not the same thing. Reducing the time required for finality could make Solana’s network more practical for payments, stablecoin transfers, trading applications, and other services where businesses need certainty that a transaction cannot be reversed. The 150-millisecond figure remains a protocol target and is not a guarantee of settlement times across every application. However, the mainnet activation still represents a meaningful infrastructure milestone.

JPM Coin deposit is now live on Ethereum

• Wall Street giant JPMorgan announced last week that its JPM Coin deposit token is now available on the Ethereum mainnet for institutional clients. The expansion builds on its November 2025 deployment on Base and allows participating institutions to transfer tokenized representations of U.S. dollar bank deposits across supported Ethereum-compatible infrastructure. (Bloomberg)
• Why it matters: Unlike traditional stablecoins, JPM Coin represents deposits held at the bank rather than a separately issued payment stablecoin. Still, the bank’s move is notable for the crypto industry because it connects commercial bank deposits with a public blockchain already used for tokenized securities, stablecoins, and decentralized financial applications. Institutional users can potentially coordinate payments and asset settlement within the same blockchain environment, reducing the need to transfer money between disconnected systems.

Canadian spotlight: Luxxfolio opens mining pool to external miners

• Vancouver-based Luxxfolio Holdings announced last week that it had launched the public beta of LuxxPool, an internally developed Scrypt mining pool. Previously used for the company’s own operations, the platform is now open to external miners and supports merged mining of Litecoin, Dogecoin, and other compatible assets. The company also plans to offer automatic coin conversions and expanded payout functionality in the future. (The Globe and Mail)
• Why it matters: Luxxfolio is attempting to move beyond operating its own mining equipment by making its infrastructure available to other miners. That could create opportunities for new revenue streams and broaden its role in the Litecoin ecosystem. The public beta offering is a standout story of a Canadian digital asset company developing mining infrastructure rather than relying solely on cryptocurrency holdings or mining rewards.
   

BTC Weekly Range: $111K-$113K
ETH Weekly Range: $3.2K-$3.3K

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Oct 28: BoC Interest Rate Decision
Oct 28: US Interest Rate Decision
Oct 29: US PCE Index
Oct 29: US Weekly Jobless Claims
Oct 30: Canada GDP MoM

Bitcoin struggled to build momentum last week as a selloff in technology stocks, rising oil prices, and geopolitical uncertainty weighed on investor sentiment. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs also experienced volatile flows, recording US$635.6 million in net outflows on Thursday, more than reversing the US$524.8 million in net inflows recorded the prior day.

In Canada, September inflation accelerated to 3.1% annually from 3.0% in August, largely reflecting higher gasoline prices. However, inflation excluding gasoline eased to 2.2%, suggesting price increases were less pronounced outside the energy sector. The contrast may play a role in the October 28 interest rate decision, as policymakers will assess whether higher energy costs risk spreading into broader inflation.

The Federal Reserve’s upcoming interest rate decision will also be closely watched. The decision could influence the crypto market, as could policymakers’ assessments of inflation, economic growth, and the potential direction of borrowing costs. A more restrictive outlook could pressure risk assets by keeping financing conditions tight, while signals that policymakers see room for easier conditions could provide some support.

The U.S. GDP announcement will also add another layer to the market’s interpretation of the Fed’s decision. With Bitcoin showing some sensitivity in recent weeks to equity-market weakness and ETF flows, it remains to be seen if the incoming economic data reinforces expectations of restrictive financial conditions or provides investors with sufficient reason to anticipate a more supportive liquidity environment.

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