Tether's USDT, the world's largest stablecoin with a market cap near $190 billion, will return to the Bitcoin network this month through the Tether-supported infrastructure project Utexo. USDT originally launched on Bitcoin's Omni protocol in 2014 before migrating primarily to Ethereum and Tron. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino signaled the move on X, writing "it's home." Utexo, founded in 2025, raised $7.5 million earlier this year in a round led by Tether and has secured a commercial license to issue USDT on Bitcoin.

SMBC Nikko Securities announced on October 2 that it has signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a DeFi platform called "DeFi Gateway" targeting Japanese investors. The consortium includes blockchain developer Nethermind, Uniswap Labs, the Nyx Foundation, and Coinbase Technologies, which operates the Base Layer 2 network. The project will develop liquidity provision protocols and proprietary liquidity pools while complying with Japanese regulations. The partners aim to complete development by mid-2027.

Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission has added "FNXAI token" and "1FNXAI token" to its list of suspicious investment products linked to digital tokens. The SFC said the products claim to let investors automate trading of US stocks and a range of financial instruments through an AI-driven trading platform, promising stable returns. The products also involve staking arrangements tied to virtual assets. The regulator's warning follows a pattern of Hong Kong authorities cracking down on AI-themed crypto investment schemes targeting retail investors.

Police forces in mainland China and Hong Kong have jointly dismantled a cross-border underground banking syndicate operating across Guangdong and Hong Kong, arresting more than 170 suspects. Authorities froze approximately 15 million yuan in funds and seized assets worth about HK$170 million. The group allegedly set up shell companies in mainland China and Hong Kong, using methods including matched trades, fake trade documents, cash and gold smuggling, and virtual currency transactions to move illicit funds. The operation was coordinated by China's Ministry of Public Security in May.

CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost reported that whale addresses moving more than $1 million in stablecoins into Binance have increased their 30-day cumulative inflows from $21.7 billion to $30.5 billion, a rise of more than 40% from recent lows. Stablecoin inflows to exchanges typically signal that large players are positioning for potential buying activity. Whale stablecoin inflows had previously topped $61 billion at an October high before a prolonged pullback. The renewed inflows come as Bitcoin's structural trend shows signs of change, though whales remain cautious.

PeckShield monitoring indicates that the attacker behind the NEAR Intents security incident transferred approximately $3.865 million in stolen funds to KuCoin before swapping to BTC across chains. The associated address has been flagged as potentially connected to North Korean hacking group Lazarus Group. NEAR Intents previously disclosed an initial loss of about $3.8 million and said affected users would be fully compensated. The exploit involved a vulnerability in the interaction between Omni's deposit and withdrawal infrastructure and NEAR Intents smart contracts, with impact limited to USDT on BSC.

A new proposal on the NEAR governance forum, submitted by Svrn AI CEO Sal Ternullo, suggests reducing NEAR's annual token issuance rate from 2.5% to 1.6% over 24 months. The proposal also pushes toward a fixed total supply in the long term and is open for discussion among validators, House of Stake representatives, and the broader NEAR community. NEAR officials separately clarified that the NEAR Intents incident did not involve a vulnerability in the NEAR Protocol or native NEAR token, with the network continuing to produce blocks and process transactions with zero downtime.

The Monad Foundation announced that StraitsX plans to natively deploy its Singapore dollar stablecoin XSGD and US dollar stablecoin XUSD on Monad by early 2027. The Singapore-based stablecoin issuer also intends to explore using the network to support stablecoin payments and financial services. The deployment remains subject to technical, regulatory, compliance, and partnership requirements and has not yet gone live. The move signals growing interest among Asian stablecoin issuers in expanding beyond their home chains.

Bitcoin futures buying pressure climbed to 4.9, its highest level since August 19, according to crypto analyst AxelAdlerJr. Open interest increased by nearly 9,000 BTC in 24 hours. The reading indicates accumulated buying pressure over the past 12 hours is nearly five standard deviations above the one-week average. The analyst noted that if Bitcoin holds above $85,000 as upward momentum fades, the rally could continue; a break below $83,000 could accelerate liquidations of newly opened long positions.

South Korean crypto exchange Upbit announced it will list the POD token on its KRW, BTC, and USDT markets, with trading starting at 16:00 local time on October 2. The multi-market listing marks a notable move for the token in Korea's highly liquid retail crypto market. Upbit remains the dominant exchange in South Korea, where KRW trading pairs often see outsized volume relative to global averages. Bithumb separately announced the listing of the US token on its KRW market, with trading opening at 15:00 local time.