Gate Crypto Flash News and Market Updates

According to BlockBeats on October 18, Bitcoin analysts are divided on whether the asset can reach $100,000 before year-end. Bitwise research head Ryan Rasmussen holds an optimistic stance, citing institutional ETF inflows, corporate demand for hard assets amid inflation, and regulatory clarity as key drivers. However, Bitwise expects significant volatility from potential Fed rate hikes in late October and U.S. midterm elections in November. In contrast, LO:TECH research head Adam Morgan McCarth

According to Anthony Welfare, a former Ripple CBDC adviser, speaking on the AllinCrypto Podcast, banks could increasingly adopt the XRP Ledger without generating proportional demand for XRP. Welfare noted that while XRPL offers fast settlement and low transaction costs, institutional adoption depends on liquidity, custody arrangements, and regulatory compliance. Crucially, financial institutions can transfer stablecoins through XRPL without converting the entire payment into XRP; for instance, R

According to CoinDesk, blockchain security firm Hacken reported that the crypto industry experienced 107 security incidents in Q3 2026, resulting in $1.18 billion in losses, a 55% quarter-over-quarter increase. Of the total, approximately $906.8 million in losses stemmed from compromised suppliers or development tools, unpatched known vulnerabilities, and components not covered in the latest audits. Hacken emphasized that security audits alone cannot replace continuous vulnerability management,

According to Agence France-Presse, Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Centre Tower in Riyadh ordered all office staff to work remotely on October 18, following escalated clashes between Saudi forces and Yemen's Houthi militants. The mandatory remote work directive applies until further notice. The 300-meter-tall landmark houses major financial institutions including Merrill Lynch, McKinsey & Company, and the International Monetary Fund. The tower management cited the directive via email but did not disclose

According to a new Bank for International Settlements working paper using U.S. data from January 2019 through June 2025, higher bank deposit rates predict slower stablecoin market growth. BIS economists Iñaki Aldasoro and Rashad Ahmed found that a one-basis-point increase in deposit rates cut typical 10-week stablecoin growth from roughly 15% to about 12% under baseline estimates, or 6% under alternative analysis. The effect was more pronounced for Circle's USDC than Tether's USDT, which the aut

Bank of Canada Governor Macklem said on Saturday that higher oil prices are increasingly supporting Canada's economic growth, and he expects the central bank to release an elevated inflation forecast by month-end. Speaking during the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group meetings in Bangkok, Macklem noted that as an energy net exporter, Canada experiences a differentiated impact from rising oil prices compared to most other major economies.

According to Bank of America, September inflation data released on October 14 strengthened the case for a Federal Reserve rate hike in October. U.S. consumer price inflation rose 3.7% year-over-year, above August's 3.4%, while core CPI excluding food and energy reached 2.6%—both exceeding the Fed's 2% target. BofA analysts led by Stephen Juneau reiterated that elevated inflation pressure may prompt the Fed to raise rates in October, a view more urgent than recent Wall Street consensus. Market pa

According to TASS, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Faisal Bin Farhan held talks in Manama today (Oct 18) during the ninth round of Russia-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) strategic dialogue, according to Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. The last such foreign minister-level meeting was held in Sochi in September 2025.

According to Cysic Foundation's incident report published on October 18, an attacker exploited a database and message-processing vulnerability in the protocol's cross-chain bridge to mint 10 million CYS tokens without authorization on BNB Smart Chain on October 17 at 12:31:38 UTC. In response, Cysic blacklisted an address holding approximately 2.8 million of the unauthorized tokens, restricting further transfers, and suspended bridge operations to prevent additional unauthorized issuance. The re

According to Nasdaq historical data, Netflix (NFLX) closed on Friday, 16 October 2026, at $70.53, down $2.08, or 2.86 percent, from Thursday's $72.61. For the week of 9-16 October, the stock rose $0.23, or 0.33 percent, from $70.30. The 6.35 percent decline measured from the 17 September close of $75.31 reflects a monthly move, not a weekly trend.

On Sunday, October 18, Saudi Arabia's main stock index closed up 0.82% at 10,189.77 points, recovering from a three-year low of 10,106.54 points reached on Thursday. Saudi Aramco shares rose 2.06% to 25.80 Saudi riyals, leading the day's gains.

According to PANews, Michael Saylor, founder and executive chairman of MicroStrategy, posted a Bitcoin Tracker-related update today (October 18). Following established patterns, MicroStrategy typically discloses its Bitcoin holdings changes the day after such announcements by Saylor.

According to Tom's Hardware, on October 16, Nvidia released a new DLSS 5 Neural Rendering model that demonstrated up to 90% performance improvement over the leaked version when running on unsupported games, with modders testing the update on titles like The Witcher 3. The updated model reduces VRAM usage by 20% at 4K resolution and is 24% smaller overall, processing neural rendering workloads up to 2x faster than the previous build, according to Nvidia.

According to BlockBeats, on October 18, Strive CEO Matt Cole posted Bitcoin holding data suggesting further purchases ahead. The company increased its Bitcoin holdings by 2,822 BTC between October 12-13 at an average price of $83,266 per coin, spending $235 million. Strive's total Bitcoin holdings now stand at 35,600 BTC.

According to PANews, Strive CEO Matt Cole posted the company's Bitcoin holdings data on X today with the caption "Now stacking sats with double horsepower," hinting at a potential disclosure of BTC holdings increase next week.

According to China's State Administration for Market Regulation, Deputy Director Pan Xiaodong met with Michael Hart, president of AmCham China, and members of the chamber on October 12. The two sides discussed consumer rights protection, fair competition review, and advertising supervision. Pan stated the market regulator is willing to work with AmCham China to implement the important consensus reached by the two countries' leaders and create a favorable business environment for foreign enterpri

According to Nasdaq historical data, on Friday October 16, Nasdaq-100 closed at 29,187.55, down 6.52% from October 6's closing high of 31,224.69. The week saw a 5.49% decline from October 9's close of 30,883.15. While Nasdaq-100 has not reached the 10% correction level of 28,102.22, semiconductor-focused holdings drove the selling pressure. The Invesco SMH semiconductor ETF fell 14.66% from October 6's close of $632.50 to $539.79, with 29 of 101 Nasdaq-100 symbols down more than 10% from October

According to PPP prediction market tool monitoring, on Oct 18, a profitable account (0x3eb31daa061a19855cbf0a4884c202fb86976a2a) with $320K earnings purchased $109K in predictions on Aurora defeating Falcons in the CS2 Thunderpick World Championship 2026. The account opened the position at an average price of 41.9 cents, acquiring 261,266.8 shares. The matchup begins at 19:30 in a best-of-three series, with the winner securing third place.

According to DeepSeek, on October 18, the company announced web search and fetch features for its API, priced at 5 yuan per 1,000 successful requests. The company noted that such Search/Fetch interface calls made through tools in DeepSeek Harness, Claude Code, and Codex are currently free but will begin incurring fees starting November 1, 2026.

According to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, a second supertanker struck a mine and caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz on October 17, resulting in a violent explosion. The vessel was carrying over 2 million barrels of crude oil, according to the statement cited by Tasnim and Xinhua News Agency. The Iranian military also reiterated that the Strait of Hormuz has been closed.