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According to the Financial Times, SoftBank is seeking funding in the Gulf region to expand its investment bets in the field of artificial intelligence.

According to the official schedule of the Bangkok Annual Meeting released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Federal Reserve Chairman Waller has confirmed his attendance and is scheduled to deliver a public speech on October 16 local time. This schedule has been included in the agenda by the IMF Bangkok Annual Meeting Organizing Committee.The related agenda indicates that his speech will focus on the current macroeconomic situation and monetary policy framework, with the specific content of the speech to be disclosed on-site.

According to the official website of the People's Bank of China, the central bank released the "Policy Position on the Renminbi Exchange Rate," clarifying that China implements a managed floating exchange rate system based on market supply and demand, referencing a basket of currencies, and has exited from normalized foreign exchange interventions since 2017.The central bank stated that China has no intention of gaining trade competitive advantages through devaluation, never engages in competitive currency devaluation, and only uses macro-prudential tools to prevent short-term overshooting under significant external shocks such as the pandemic and the tariff war in April 2025. Since the exchange rate reform in 2005, the Renminbi has appreciated by a cumulative 23% against the US dollar, and the nominal effective exchange rate has appreciated by over 50%; since 2025, it has appreciated by about 9% against the US dollar.The central bank also pointed out that using the International Monetary Fund's external balance assessment conclusions as the official basis for the undervaluation of the Renminbi is a misinterpretation and misuse, and that alleviating global imbalances requires joint action from deficit and surplus countries.

According to TASS, Kirill Tsarev, the First Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank, stated that the bank has noticed a significant interest from a large number of customers in cryptocurrencies, which have become an indispensable part of the global market.

Danske Bank strategists indicate that the US dollar remains strong against major currencies, supported by high US Treasury yields and expectations of a hawkish Federal Reserve policy.It is expected that the yields on 10-year and 30-year US Treasury bonds may rise to 6%. The relative strength index is at 73.6, and the dollar index is showing strong momentum, but the upside potential may be limited.

According to Gate market data, Deutsche Bank strategists stated that the widening bond spreads and rising inflation concerns are putting pressure on risk assets. The STOXX 600 index fell by 1%, the French CAC 40 index fell by 1.22%, and the Italian FTSE MIB index fell by 2.51%, while European bank stocks dropped by 3.38%.The S&P 500 index fell by 0.22%, with industrial and materials stocks down by 2.14% and 1.53%, respectively. The Nasdaq index and the seven tech giants fell by 0.22% and 0.2%, respectively, while the Russell 2000 index dropped by 1.31%.

According to The Block, Standard Chartered Bank's Singapore branch plans to provide custody services for specific crypto assets, stablecoins, and tokenized real-world assets to institutional investors.The bank stated that this service will expand its existing crypto asset custody business, which currently covers the UAE, Luxembourg, and Hong Kong.

On September 8, the ZKsync development team Matter Labs announced that it has open-sourced the permission engine of its privacy blockchain platform Prividium for financial institutions under the Apache 2 license. This engine is responsible for managing roles and access permissions on the chain, determining who can read and write data. After the open-sourcing, institutions can run the permissioned chain in their own environment based on the public code without signing commercial agreements, and can independently inspect, run, and modify the core code, reducing reliance on a single vendor.The Deutsche Bundesbank became the first institution to test and deploy the open-source permission engine in its own infrastructure. Matter Labs stated that both parties will continue to collaborate on platform design and testing. Prividium achieves privacy by keeping transaction data within the institution, only recording zero-knowledge proofs that the ledger has been correctly updated on Ethereum or other compatible chains. Previously, the core of ZKsync OS, Atlas sequencer, Airbender prover, interoperability contracts, and block explorer and monitoring components have been open-sourced.Matter Labs CEO Alex Gluchowski stated that feedback from regulators indicated that relying solely on commercialized core components leads to unacceptable single vendor dependency, and the ability to run, inspect, and modify the code independently is a prerequisite for adoption. He also pointed out that this open-sourcing does not change the role of the ZK token, only adjusting which parts of the Prividium software are public code and which remain commercial products. Connectors such as management consoles, user access tools, and core banking system integrations remain paid products.

Tether announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) and the Almaty City Administration (ACA), where the three parties will explore cooperation opportunities in areas such as stablecoin applications, asset tokenization, and decentralized finance.

Lamine Brahimi, co-founder and managing partner of the cryptocurrency custody and tokenization company Taurus, stated in an interview with CoinDesk that banks need to meet three conditions to access the newly launched blockchain ledger by Swift: a proprietary permissioned chain that interacts with the Swift ledger, wallet capabilities, and tokenization and smart contract capabilities to integrate Swift's smart contracts.He pointed out that this means the Swift ledger is not a replacement for banks' internal systems, but rather acts as an orchestration layer, helping institutions achieve cross-border, round-the-clock transfers of tokenized deposits, with final settlement still completed through existing arrangements. Banks still need to hold and manage tokenized deposits, digital asset wallets, and related smart contracts themselves. In July, Swift announced that 17 banks were preparing for real-time transactions of tokenized deposits; in August, HSBC and Standard Chartered completed the first real-time interbank transaction, followed by DBS and Citibank completing weekend cross-border USD payments, reducing settlement time from a maximum of two business days to just a few minutes.Brahimi stated that additional infrastructure should not be seen as a flaw in Swift's design; the ledger is still an early product but provides banks with a choice between existing payment channels and tokenized deposits that can circulate around the clock. Taurus announced in August that it had completed Swift integration, providing the aforementioned three layers of capability through a single platform. He added that tokenized deposits were used very little before Swift's announcement, primarily adopted by larger global banks like JPMorgan. The Swift model retains deposits on the banks' balance sheets, distinguishing it from stablecoins issued outside the banking system.

A report from the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) identifies stablecoins, particularly USDT, as a key liquidity channel supporting Iran's shadow banking system. Licensed virtual asset service providers (VASP) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region face heightened sanctions compliance pressure and need to enhance wallet ownership identification and counterparty assessment.Soham Jethani, a partner at the law firm Septten, stated that merchants settling crypto assets into local fiat currency do not necessarily avoid sanctions risks. Liability may involve designated entities, the provision of funds or economic resources, and asset handling within the transaction chain, potentially arising before the final settlement by banks. Jethani pointed out that the name of the stablecoin or the currency in which it is priced does not determine legal ownership; specific rights depend on contractual arrangements and actual payment processes.Globally circulating stablecoins may also pose secondary sanctions risks, as indirect or historical wallet associations do not automatically constitute violations and must be assessed in conjunction with applicable regulations, transaction participants, and specific facts. In regulated markets like the UAE, licensed exchange wallets are continuously monitored, and related funds can be frozen before consumption settlements, with merchants also required to complete KYC. Regulated VASPs handling deposits and withdrawals bear the responsibility for counterparty and sanctions risk assessment and corresponding controls.

Bank of America Chief Strategist Savita Subramanian stated that bonds have become a competitive alternative asset to stocks for the first time. She pointed out that the yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury has exceeded 5%, while the S&P 500 index's annualized return over the next 10 years may not reach this level.Subramanian believes that the bond allocation environment is more favorable, and U.S. Treasury yields are unlikely to sustain levels above 6% to 7%.

Russia has registered the first batch of cryptocurrency exchange operators and digital asset custodians based on the new regulations that took effect on September 1. The Bank of Russia announced the list of the first authorized operators, which includes 4 exchange operators and 5 custodians.Russia's largest bank, Sberbank, has been included in the list of custodians, alongside Atomyze, Voltari, and Cloud Infrastructure. Sberbank stated that it has applied for the qualification of a digital asset custodian and plans to launch its first cryptocurrency products on December 1 through the SberBank Online, SberInvestments, and SberBusiness platforms, initially supporting Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and USDt (USDT).T-Invest Lab, Zefir, and Sistema-Crypto have been included in the list of exchange operators, with VTB Bank appearing on both lists. The relevant registration is based on the cryptocurrency bill signed by President Vladimir Putin in August, which brings exchanges, custodians, brokers, and investors under the supervision of the Bank of Russia and maintains the prohibition on using cryptocurrencies to pay for goods and services.

Google released its latest image generation and editing model, Nano Banana 2.1, on October 6, and it has been launched in the Gemini app, AI mode of Google Search, Google Ads, as well as developer tools like Google AI Studio, Flow, and Stitch. This model can generate images from text descriptions and edit existing photos.Google stated that this upgrade focuses on three aspects: visual design, mask-based editing (where only the marked area changes), and subject consistency, meaning that characters or objects retain their original features after multiple edits. In the overall preference test for text-to-image generation, Nano Banana 2.1 scored 1050 ELO points, higher than Nano Banana 2's 990 points and Nano Banana Pro's 935 points. The model can handle up to 14 reference images simultaneously, track 4 characters and 10 objects, and output up to 4K resolution with an aspect ratio of up to 8:1. Developers can also set the thinking time before generation and enable fact-checking based on Google Search and Google Image Search.When called through the Google Developer API, the standard 1K image is priced at $0.0336, about half of Nano Banana 2's $0.067; the 4K image is $0.0756, while the previous generation was $0.151, and bulk tasks can enjoy a 50% discount. The above performance data comes from Google's own testing.

The UK government has appointed Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Morgan Stanley, NatWest, and RBC Capital Markets as the joint lead managers for the first digital native government bond, the Digital Gilt Instrument (DIGIT), expected to be issued in the first quarter of 2027. The six banks will provide underwriting, investor communication, and distribution services.DIGIT will be issued through a platform within the UK's digital securities sandbox and will test the application of distributed ledger technology in government bond issuance and its entire lifecycle, including on-chain settlement. Lucy Rigby, the UK's Economic Secretary to the Treasury, stated that the project aims to explore the application of distributed ledger technology in the sovereign debt market and to promote the development of the UK's digital financial infrastructure. HSBC was appointed as the distributed ledger technology provider for the pilot in February and reached an agreement with the London Stock Exchange Group in July to develop a digital securities depository connection solution.

European Central Bank Executive Board member Piero Cipollone stated during the MNI Connect Webcast that without a pan-European digital payment solution covering various daily transactions, the fragmentation risk between tokenization platforms may increase, thereby undermining Europe's "resilience and monetary sovereignty." He pointed out that the goal of the European Central Bank should be to create a digital euro that can be exchanged between banks and used for daily transactions.Cipollone emphasized, "Our goal is not to replace the role of banks." He stated that the digital euro will provide banks with the infrastructure needed to compete in the digital age and help banks expand the coverage and application scenarios of their own solutions.According to him, the European Central Bank has not yet decided whether to issue a digital euro but plans to complete the legislative process by the end of 2026. If the project advances, a 12-month pilot program will be launched in the second half of 2027, with a potential official issuance in 2029. The European Central Bank first proposed introducing a digital euro in October 2020 as a complementary digital payment option to cash. Critics argue that the central bank digital currency could give EU officials the means to monitor or even control residents' spending. Cipollone stated in September 2025 that the digital euro will ensure that all Europeans can use a free and widely accepted digital payment method at any time, even in the event of significant disruptions.

According to The Defiant, stablecoin issuer Agora has received approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a U.S. trust bank, which will take over the issuance and reserve management of AUSD.This trust bank will inherit the issuance and reserve functions of Agora's Bermuda entity, but before officially opening, it still needs to meet regulatory requirements regarding capital, liquidity, and compliance.

According to BitcoinNews, Bringin is launching a corporate banking platform for European businesses, connecting Bitcoin with traditional banking services while supporting corporate self-custody. The platform offers dedicated virtual IBANs, instant SEPA transfers, Bitcoin to Euro exchanges, Lightning Network payments, stablecoin support, and cross-border payments. Businesses can directly purchase Bitcoin into self-custody wallets and use Bitcoin, stablecoins, or Euros to pay employees and suppliers.Bringin also supports integrating payment functionalities into existing systems via API and plans to support AI-oriented MPP and x402 payment protocols; the company plans to expand to the United States, South Africa, the Philippines, Mexico, and India.

European Central Bank Executive Board Member Fabio Panetta stated that the digital euro will enhance the competitiveness of European banks and is planned for official launch in 2029. The project aims not only to address the shortcomings of the payment system but also to provide a platform for future innovations.The pilot phase will start next year to uphold European monetary sovereignty.