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- Crypto’s Gucci Tracksuit Era Is Giving Way to Suits and Stablecoins
- Better Altcoin Buy: XRP vs. Solana
The article compares XRP and Solana, two top-10 cryptocurrencies by market cap that both have spot ETFs and real-world use cases. XRP rose 580% in 2024 and about 22,000% since it began trading in 2013, driven by Ripple's payment network, but the author argues that stablecoins, a $300 billion industry, are eroding XRP's role in cross-border payments and explain its recent stagnation. Solana gained 924% in 2023 and hit an all-time high of $294 in early 2025, and the author sees it as a rival to Ethereum in DeFi, with the upcoming Alpenglow upgrade expected to speed up processing and raise throughput. The author chooses Solana over XRP because it is a full smart-contract platform that could overtake XRP in market cap as more applications run on it, while noting that investing in Solana carries high risk.
- What Crypto Bear Market? All of These Cryptocurrencies Have Skyrocketed in Value This Year
Bitcoin is down nearly 10% year-to-date, Ethereum is down 20% and XRP is down 30%, but several altcoins have risen sharply in 2026. Hyperliquid (HYPE) is up 210% for the year with a market cap of $20 billion, helped by the launch of spot ETFs, and Zcash (ZEC) is up 128%, with Grayscale's spot Zcash ETF attracting more than $500 million in under 30 days. NEAR Protocol, repositioned for the AI agent economy, is up 240% in 2026 but still down 75% from its January 2022 all-time high. Venice Token (VVV) is up 1,300% this year with a market cap just above $1 billion. The author favors Hyperliquid, citing its popularity overseas, the recent opening of the U.S. market to perpetual futures, and implicit support from the Trump administration.
- As Bitcoin Matures, Altcoins Face a Reckoning. Here's Which Ones Have a Real Use.
The article argues many altcoins lack a real investment case, citing CoinGecko research that 53% of tokens tracked from mid-2021 through 2025 had failed. Over the 30-day period, XRP Ledger generated just $34,286 in fees, while Ripple earned $7.3 million in reserve income from its RLUSD stablecoin. Ethereum holds $144.6 billion in stablecoins and $50.2 billion in DeFi value locked, and Solana holds $15.9 billion and $5.9 billion, which the article sees as real demand. By contrast, Cardano has $64.9 million in DeFi value locked, Shibarium collected $13.04 in fees, and all Dogecoin fees go to miners. The article concludes Bitcoin, as a scarce asset with no issuer, remains the core holding.
- Ethereum, Altcoins See 'Outsized Drawdowns' Due to Macro Pressures
Ethereum, XRP and Solana fell more sharply than Bitcoin on the day, cutting total crypto market cap 2.5% to $2.8 trillion. Ethereum dropped 5.5% to $289 billion, XRP fell 5.1% to $82.4 billion, Solana slipped 3.8% to $60.6 billion, and Bitcoin lost 3.1% to $1.6 trillion. Experts cite macro pressure, including 3.7% annual consumer inflation and a 28% chance of an October rate hike on the Myriad prediction market. Derive.xyz's Nick Forster said hedging on his platform doubled as whales pulled back from spring bets, while Bitwise's Max Shannon noted $8 billion less altcoin futures open interest since early October as traders took profits. CoinShares' Luke Nolan said altcoins are most sensitive to tighter liquidity and a strong dollar, and a Bitcoin move above 80k could spark a sharp altcoin rebound.
- Bank Earnings Are Mixed—These 2 ETFs Offer Very Different Paths to a Recovery
Q3 2026 bank earnings were mixed: JPMorgan missed adjusted EPS estimates even as net revenue rose more than 8% year over year, while Goldman Sachs beat estimates on healthy equities trading. The article compares two bank ETFs: KBE, an equal-weight fund with about 109 holdings spread across bank sizes and business types, and IAT, a market-cap-weighted regional bank fund where U.S. Bancorp and PNC each make up about 15%. KBE may benefit from an uneven recovery or falling rates, while both funds tend to do well in broad expansion but are more vulnerable in a recession or banking crisis. Both are up only 1%-2% year to date, with expense ratios of 0.35% for KBE and 0.37% for IAT. Investors should watch deposit trends and credit quality.
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- Trump to throw spotlight on overseas crypto abuses at White House event
President Donald Trump is set to highlight his administration's efforts to pursue overseas crypto criminals at a White House cybercrime event on Wednesday, according to an official. U.S. law enforcement has halted about $833 million in crypto tied to overseas scams, and 503 fraudulent crypto websites have been seized under the Homeland Security Task Force. Authorities have also informed almost 9,000 U.S. citizens that they are being victimized. The transnational criminal organizations behind these scams have stolen tens of billions of dollars from Americans, and the Treasury formed a multi-agency Scam Center Strike Force in November. Meanwhile, Trump's personal crypto ties may have become a political liability as the midterm elections approach in a couple of weeks.
- AI is building out the new Industrial Revolution: Nvidia's Jensen Huang
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang delivered a keynote at the GTC Berlin event, where he emphasized that AI is helping build the new Industrial Revolution. He noted that AI is becoming increasingly integrated into manufacturing processes.
- Musk's SpaceX-Tesla Merger Would Create a Bitcoin Treasury Behemoth
Elon Musk said the boards of SpaceX and Tesla have formed special committees of independent directors to weigh a merger, while cautioning that a deal is not a certainty. Combined, the two would hold 30,221 BTC, worth roughly $2.5 billion at a Bitcoin price near $83,000, making it one of the largest non-mining corporate Bitcoin treasuries. Tesla reported 11,509 BTC in its latest quarterly filing, while SpaceX disclosed 18,712 BTC in its S-1 ahead of its June IPO, a stash largely invisible to public markets and more than double previous blockchain-tracker estimates. The combined cost basis is around $1 billion, implying an average buy price near $35,000 per coin. A merger would not change Bitcoin itself but would alter governance and accounting, placing the holdings in one public company subject to quarterly disclosures; neither company has signaled plans to buy or sell.
- Musk's SpaceX-Tesla Merger Would Create a Bitcoin Treasury Behemoth
Elon Musk said the boards of SpaceX and Tesla have formed special committees of independent directors to weigh a merger, while cautioning that a deal is not a certainty. Combined, the two would hold 30,221 BTC, worth roughly $2.5 billion at a Bitcoin price near $83,000, making it one of the largest non-mining corporate Bitcoin treasuries. Tesla reported 11,509 BTC in its latest quarterly filing, while SpaceX disclosed 18,712 BTC in its S-1 ahead of its June IPO, a stash largely invisible to public markets and more than double previous blockchain-tracker estimates. The combined cost basis is around $1 billion, implying an average buy price near $35,000 per coin. A merger would not change Bitcoin itself but would alter governance and accounting, placing the holdings in one public company subject to quarterly disclosures; neither company has signaled plans to buy or sell.
- Chainlink, Cardano, other blockchain groups push SEC for clearer crypto rules
Six major blockchain organizations, including Chainlink Labs, Cardano Foundation, Hedera, Aptos Labs, Ava Labs and Stellar Development Foundation, urged the SEC in a joint letter dated Oct. 20 to formally classify digital commodities as non-securities. They argued that interpretive guidance alone leaves legal uncertainty, and that this classification should be written directly into the proposed Regulation Crypto Assets framework. The letter also asks for clarity on how securities laws apply to secondary-market transactions, as well as on staking and other activities tied to decentralized blockchain networks. The SEC's proposal, introduced in August, drew roughly 140 public comments over 60 days, and the consultation closed on Tuesday.
- Government to submit new resolution on wage policy to Central Committee
Deputy Prime Minister Phạm Thị Thanh Trà said during a group discussion on the afternoon of Oct. 21 on laws covering labor, employment and social insurance that the Government is drafting a proposal to report to the Political Bureau. The proposal is expected to go to the Central Committee at its Fifth Plenum to issue a new resolution on wage and social insurance policy, replacing Resolutions No. 27-NQ/TW and No. 28-NQ/TW. According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the current amendment to the Social Insurance Law mainly addresses immediate issues such as expanding coverage, while a more fundamental and comprehensive revision will follow the new resolution. For the Employment Law, the focus is cutting unnecessary licenses and reviewing rules on labor leasing, though simplifying procedures does not mean loosening management. Lawmakers also raised rules on depositing funds in joint-stock commercial banks with state capital, and the Government aims for safety, sustainability and timely payment of benefits.
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