Gate Crypto Flash News and Market Updates

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.

According to Houthi forces, Saudi airstrikes targeted a residential building in Saada province, Yemen, on October 18, killing 9 people and wounding 11 others, including women and children, per CCTV News.

According to Jin10 data, on October 18, U.S. President Trump called on France to close its borders and regain control, citing concerns over immigration policy. Trump stated that France is being destroyed and urged immediate action to prevent further deterioration.

According to ChainCatcher and the U.S. Department of Justice, Ghanaian and Nigerian authorities arrested 28 people in a recent joint enforcement operation targeting West African fraud networks involving cryptocurrency investment scams. Private sector partners, including exchanges Binance and Coinbase as well as blockchain analysis firms Chainalysis, Elliptic, and TRM Labs, identified over $11 million in potentially freezable funds. Coinbase stated it assisted in tracking illicit funds, supportin

According to CNBC, Amazon this week launched Bee Frontier and Bee Eclipse wearables designed to continuously record, transcribe and analyze users' daily activities. Apple's latest Apple Watch Series 12 includes Siri Recap, which takes ambient notes throughout the day and generates conversation summaries. Meta's smart glasses also capture video and voice notes. These AI-powered devices are testing the limits of privacy law. Unlike earlier voice assistants activated by "wake words," these products

According to ChainCatcher, next week will feature China's release of third-quarter GDP and September retail sales figures. Tech giants Meta and Tesla are also scheduled to report earnings. Additionally, the 2026 Financial Street Forum annual conference will take place in Beijing through October 22. Other key economic indicators due next week include the U.S. October NAHB Housing Market Index, U.K. September CPI monthly rate, and Japan September core CPI year-over-year rate.

According to the Russian Central Bank, as of July 1, 2027, Russian residents will be prohibited from conducting crypto transactions via self-custody wallets or transferring assets from licensed brokers to self-managed wallets. All crypto trades must be executed through licensed exchanges or brokers, of which 13 institutions are currently authorized. Russian Finance Ministry Deputy Minister Ivan Chebeskov estimates approximately 20 million Russians hold 3.7 trillion rubles (roughly $44 billion) i

According to Sentora analysis, over the past year, 89% of $1.63 billion in Ethereum lending protocol liquidations were completed through atomic paths, which rely on DEX liquidity. RWA collateral with thin liquidity pools and whitelist transfer restrictions is increasingly driving liquidations toward off-chain market makers, RFQ, and solver-based settlement.

According to recent statements, Citigroup and Bank of America have become the latest U.S. banks to restrict AI agents from accessing customer accounts. Both institutions cited concerns that AI agents could automatically transfer idle deposits to higher-yielding accounts, causing deposit outflows. Citigroup stated it does not allow third-party AI agents to log into customer accounts or execute trades on its digital banking platform. Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said the bank is limiting AI

According to Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Japan has confirmed 8 cases of African swine fever (ASF) this year across Ibaraki, Gunma, and Ehime prefectures, resulting in the culling of approximately 20,000 pigs. The latest case was confirmed on October 16 at a farm in Kasumigaura, Ibaraki prefecture, marking the prefecture's first ASF case since 2023. The farm reported increased piglet mortality in early October; authorities are investigating whether the outbreak is lin

According to Token Unlocks data, LayerZero (ZRO) will unlock approximately 23.28 million tokens worth $43.3 million on October 20 at 7 p.m. Beijing time, representing 3.83% of circulating supply. Plasma (XPL) will unlock around 227 million tokens worth $17.9 million on October 25 at 8 p.m., representing 5.02% of supply. Other tokens scheduled for large unlocks next week include Humanity (H) with $15 million unlocked on October 25, SoSoValue (SOSO) with $6.9 million on October 24, SOON with $6.3