Digital assets markets have sparred over the $80,000 mark. Bitcoin followed a drop of more than 3 percent on the 22nd with another slide on the 24th, briefly falling into the $79,000 range and hitting its lowest level in about a month. Reports of U.S. personnel being withdrawn from the Middle East, combined with a stock market wobble driven by AI industry funding concerns, triggered long liquidations and outflows from spot ETFs at the same time. Major events, including the Federal Open Market Committee meeting and big tech earnings, are also lined up.

• Middle East crisis fears hit bitcoin in the $80,000s, lowest in a month • Bitcoin mounts all-out defence of $80,000; 3 things to watch including FOMC and big tech earnings • CryptoQuant CEO: "Even if the AI bubble bursts, the shock to bitcoin will be limited"

The $80,000 level came under threat over the weekend after foreign media reported that the United States was rushing to withdraw personnel from its Middle East embassies and military bases based on intelligence that Iran was preparing an attack. Equity market volatility was also high. Neo-cloud company CoreWeave fell 15.5 percent over the week to its lowest level since May 2025. Bernstein cut its target price on CoreWeave to $51 from $74, and QCP Capital said credit stress in the neo-cloud sector had driven broader weakness in equities. Comments by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang about the "scarcity of capital" also weighed on investor sentiment.

Attention is now turning to upcoming events. Markets see a more than 90 percent chance that the federal funds rate will be left unchanged at 3.75 to 4 percent at the Oct. 29 FOMC meeting. A view is that remarks by Fed Chair Kevin Warsh at the post-meeting news conference matter more than the rate decision, and CME FedWatch is leaning toward a 0.25 percentage point hike at the December FOMC meeting. On the 31st, the personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, and third-quarter GDP will be released. Microsoft and Alphabet report earnings on the 29th, and Amazon and Intel on the 30th.

Would a bursting AI bubble also hit bitcoin. Ki Young Ju (주기영), CEO of CryptoQuant, said the impact could be limited even if the AI market pulls back because bitcoin has barely participated in the recent surge in AI-related stocks. He also mentioned the possibility that money that sold bitcoin to buy AI shares could return, but drew a line at claims that an AI collapse would immediately be bullish for bitcoin.

• U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency finalises Genius Act rules; Scott Bessent: "a historic moment" • Bank or non-bank? Last-minute tug-of-war over issuing won stablecoins • Dollar stablecoins in a 400 trillion won era, but what about won? Twin hurdles of rulemaking and real-world use

In the United States, the final piece of stablecoin regulation has been put in place. The OCC finalised the final implementing rules for the Genius Act. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a social media post on the 21st that the law set a federal framework for stablecoins used for payments in the digital era, much as the National Bank Act of 1863 established the framework for bank-issued currency.

Discussions in Korea are also nearing the final stage. The government and related agencies are continuing talks on the issuer, reserve assets and redemption framework for won stablecoins to be included in the Digital Asset Basic Act. A proposal under discussion would allow issuance by a consortium in which banks hold at least a 50 percent stake plus 1 share, but nothing has been finalised. Bank of Korea Governor Hyun Song Shin (신현송) said at a parliamentary audit on the 12th that he basically supports introducing privately issued won stablecoins and that, by agreement with the government, the method would be a private bank-led consortium.

The central bank stresses a bank-centred structure because if stablecoins spread as a means of payment, large-scale redemption demands and sales of reserve assets could increase volatility in financial markets. Banks are already subject to rules on capital soundness, liquidity and anti-money laundering, which also makes it easier to use existing supervisory frameworks. Some have pointed to the need not only to put rules in place to allow won stablecoin issuance, but also to secure practical uses for payments and remittances and to ensure liquidity.

• XRP struggles despite positive ecosystem news; turning point for breaking out of range • Former Ripple CTO points to XRPL weakness, including logging problems under overload

XRP again drew the strongest reader response this week. On the upside, there is optimism based on time. According to analysis by The Crypto Basic, XRP has repeated rising and falling phases in 12 to 14-month cycles since 2020. It rose to $1.65 in May 2021 from $0.219 in May 2020, then went through a down phase. It climbed to $3.50 in July 2025 before sliding to $1.09 in July 2026. Because it is now in the early stage of a new up phase that began around August, the analysis said the next turning point would be around July 2027 if the pattern continues. The first resistance is $1.70 to $2.00, and if $1 breaks on a monthly chart, the structure of higher highs and higher lows would be damaged. The analysis presented this not as a definitive forecast but as a standard for checking the trend.

A former Ripple CTO described a weakness in XRPL, saying that logging can also be disrupted under overload conditions, and praised an XRPL-based physical card game called Fuzzy Card. An early anecdote, an unfilled "1XRP=1BTC" order, was also revisited. It is also worth noting that despite a flood of price outlooks, indicators of real demand that would support the price are still not clear.

• Prediction market Kalshi eyes CME and ICE turf with inflation futures • Built in days with AI coding tools: could 100,000 crypto games flood the market?

Prediction market company Kalshi is expanding into territory traditionally occupied by financial exchanges. Bloomberg News reported that Kalshi plans to launch listed futures contracts in December that track the consumer price index and core CPI. It is expected to be the only futures contract directly linked to the CPI, and it targets macro investors in the interest rate and bond futures markets operated by CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange. Kalshi has recruited former Barclays trader Michael Ashton, known as the "inflation guy", and is promoting its products to large banks and hedge funds. With inflation the biggest market variable, attention is on whether prediction markets can enter the derivatives market as one pillar of activity.

Separately, a projection has also emerged that AI coding tools are making it possible to build crypto games in just a few days, potentially unleashing as many as 100,000 games. The industry faces a new task as lower barriers to entry make it more important to separate strong projects from weak ones.