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Circle has partnered with payment technology company Volante Technologies to integrate USDC-related workflows into Volante's existing payment platform. Financial institutions can incorporate stablecoin payments and settlements into their existing systems without having to build a separate digital asset technology stack.Volante's clients include four of the top five corporate banks globally and seven of the top ten banks in the United States. These institutions will be able to evaluate processes such as USDC minting, redemption, wallet registration, fund injection, and inter-wallet payments, and use them in parallel with existing payment rails.

According to SoSoValue data, as of 8 AM Eastern Time on September 28, 2026, the total net purchase of Bitcoin by global listed companies (excluding mining companies) for the week was $239 million, an increase of 30.4% compared to last week.Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) purchased 1,665 Bitcoins last week at a price of $85,681, spending approximately $143 million, bringing its total holdings to 847,666 Bitcoins.The Japanese listed company Metaplanet did not purchase any Bitcoin last week, marking eleven consecutive weeks without a purchase.In addition, three other companies announced Bitcoin purchases or holdings last week. The French Bitcoin company Capital B announced on September 28 that it purchased 13 Bitcoins at a price of $85,693.40, bringing its total holdings to 3,538 Bitcoins; asset management company Strive announced on September 28 that it spent approximately $94.53 million last week to purchase 1,107 Bitcoins at a price of $85,396, bringing its total holdings to approximately 27,462 Bitcoins.As of the time of publication, the total amount of Bitcoin held by the listed companies worldwide (excluding mining companies) is 1,159,755 Bitcoins, an increase of 0.32% compared to last week, with a current market value of approximately $9.674 billion, accounting for 5.7% of Bitcoin's circulating market value.

According to Businesswire, physical AI chip company SiMa.ai announced the completion of a $150 million Series C financing round, co-led by Fidelity Management & Research Company and Amplify, with participation from Alter Venture Partners, Dell Technologies Capital, Maverick Capital, Point72, StepStone Group, and others.The company has raised a total of $500 million, with a valuation rising to $1.45 billion. SiMa.ai stated that the funds will be used to scale its physical AI platform Palette Neat and to develop the next generation of dedicated physical AI chips, which are planned to be launched in the first half of 2028, with computing power reaching up to 1000 TOPS.

According to PR Newswire, Brazilian fintech company NG.CASH has completed a strategic financing of 15 million dollars, led by Blockchain Capital. Since its establishment in 2021, the company's total financing has exceeded 65 million dollars.It is reported that NG.CASH holds two licenses issued by the Central Bank of Brazil for direct credit companies and payment institutions, and is applying for a virtual asset service provider license. Since its establishment in 2021, NG.CASH has surpassed 10 million accounts, with platform transaction volume reaching several billion dollars.

According to Bloomberg, F2 AI, a company focused on artificial intelligence development in the credit sector, disclosed that it has received a $5 million investment from private credit management firm Golub Capital.As part of the equity investment, Golub Capital will gain access to F2 AI's AI agent suite to utilize its own data for screening private credit investments, conducting due diligence, underwriting transactions, and monitoring portfolios. The parties did not disclose the valuation of F2 AI corresponding to this investment.

Artificial intelligence company Instinct successfully raised $1 billion with a valuation of $10 billion.

According to CoinDesk, Franklin Templeton has expanded its "Over-the-Counter Collateral Program" to Bybit, allowing users of the exchange to use their tokenized money market fund shares for cryptocurrency trading. Users can use the shares as collateral to borrow stablecoins USDT or USDC, while the underlying assets continue to generate returns. The relevant shares represent approximately $686 million in net assets.The underlying assets will not be transferred to Bybit but will be held off-chain by the regulated custody platform ByCustody, with their value mirrored in the Bybit trading environment, thereby generating returns while releasing trading liquidity. The shares are issued through the Benji technology platform, which is Franklin Templeton's proprietary blockchain-integrated record-keeping and transfer agency infrastructure, currently paying an annualized return of 3.7% based on the latest 7-day interest rate.This is not Franklin Templeton's first foray into over-the-counter collateral partnerships, as it has previously offered tokenized money market funds to Binance and OKX clients. Sandy Kaul, Head of Digital Assets and Innovation at Franklin Templeton, stated that investors can now use collateral more efficiently across major exchanges and earn returns from it, which is crucial for ecosystem growth. This expansion also reflects industry trends, with platforms like Crypto.com and Deribit allowing qualified users to use BlackRock's BUIDL fund as trading collateral.

A federal jury in San Diego, USA, ruled on Friday that Apple must pay over $5.7 billion in damages for using patented technology from the haptic patent company Taction Technology, according to Caixin. This is the highest patent compensation amount in U.S. history. Taction sued Apple in 2021, claiming that its sales of devices infringing on touch technology improperly utilized related innovations; the case was dismissed in 2023 but was later reinstated by the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.Apple issued a statement strongly opposing the verdict and the amount of damages, stating that the ruling lacks factual basis. Apple stated that its haptic engine is fundamentally different from Taction's technology, and tests conducted during the trial confirmed this, asserting that it did not use Taction's technology and would appeal. Taction's chief attorney, Lance Yang, thanked the jury and mentioned that the company waited five and a half years for the case to go to trial.The core of the lawsuit revolves around two vibration-based haptic sensor technologies designed to allow users to perceive the device's response to input. Taction claims that Apple’s haptic engine in the Apple Watch and iPhone used its inventions without authorization. Apple's haptic engine was launched in 2014 with the Apple Watch and was used in the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus the following year, replacing the older vibration motors. Since Apple insists on appealing, the amount of damages will need to be determined first by the presiding judge before entering the appeals process for final confirmation.

According to Bloomberg, China has expanded overseas travel restrictions for top AI private sector talent to include their family members. Sources say that for executives of AI companies deemed critical to national security, their immediate relatives such as spouses and children must obtain official approval in advance even for short-term trips abroad. Relevant departments have begun notifying affected individuals and will gradually enhance the list of restrictions on AI talent leaving the country. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China did not respond to requests for comment.Previously, China's new "Regulations on Exit and Entry Administration" took effect on September 15, which imposes exit restrictions on individuals suspected of endangering national industrial and technological security. Reports indicate that concerns over the outflow of key technologies and talent intensified after Meta attempted to acquire Manus for $2 billion, ultimately leading to an order to cancel the deal and requiring certain tech companies to refrain from accepting U.S. capital investment without approval.

Japan's top foreign exchange official, Jun Mimura, stated that the market should recognize the "very clear" signals released last week by Japan and the United States regarding the yen issue, demonstrating a determination to take action against excessive declines.Japan's Finance Minister, Shunichi Suzuki, mentioned that U.S. President Trump expressed concerns about the weakness of the yen during a summit with Japanese Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi. Jun Mimura emphasized that they will closely monitor market reactions and expressed dissatisfaction and unease regarding the recent yen trends.

According to CoinDesk, the stablecoin payment company RedotPay, headquartered in Hong Kong, announced on Monday that it has completed financial audits and compliance reviews for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing, both of which were conducted by one of the Big Four accounting firms. This move is a necessary preparatory step for applying for an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States.

The London-listed technology company The Smarter Web Company has allocated 2,710,442 shares of common stock according to the terms of the subscription agreement.The total amount raised from this allocation is £1,891,933 (before expenses), equivalent to approximately £0.7 per share, and the company will receive about 98.25% of the funds as settlement. The remaining balance of common stock that has not been allocated under the subscription agreement is 41,213,788 shares.

According to a survey by the Financial Times, open-weight models are spreading from technology companies to traditional American enterprises. AlphaSense data shows that in August and September of this year, American companies mentioned open weights or open-source models approximately six times more than the same period last year during earnings calls and investor meetings. PNC Financial, logistics company CH Robinson, and Siemens have recently publicly discussed related applications.Tinder's annual AI spending has increased from about $1 million in January of this year to about $10 million in July, and it has begun to delegate some routine requests to open-weight models. AT&T stated that currently about 40% of AI tasks have been assigned to open models, with plans to increase this to about 70%. Its internal AI system processes approximately 45 billion tokens daily, using lower-cost models for simple tasks while continuing to use cutting-edge models like OpenAI and Anthropic for complex tasks.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has fully started production at its first wafer fab in Singapore, driven by demand for AI infrastructure.The factory is a joint venture with NXP and began trial production in June, achieving a yield rate of 99%. Mass production is planned for early 2027. TSMC holds approximately 19% of the shares.

According to a report by South Korea's Small and Medium Business News on September 28, industry insiders stated that SK Hynix has initiated the foundational engineering required for establishing a semiconductor factory in the Tohoku region of Japan. One insider mentioned that it is still unclear whether the project will be an independent factory or a joint venture with Kioxia, but local groundwork is underway, and SK Hynix has also requested domestic component suppliers in South Korea to expand their supply.The report noted that as of a month ago, SK Hynix's stance on building a memory semiconductor factory in Japan was still "under research," and they stated that "there are no specific decisions." In response to this news, SK Hynix indicated that the Japanese memory semiconductor factory is still in the research phase, with no further advancements at this time.The report also mentioned that SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won stated in August this year that they are studying the establishment of a joint venture memory semiconductor factory in Japan, with the Tohoku region subsequently seen as a strong candidate. The Tohoku region of Japan and Iwate Prefecture have gathered semiconductor and material component companies such as Kioxia's Kitakami factory, Japan Semiconductor, Ancor Technology, Denso, and Tokyo Electron.

The Hong Kong Accounting and Financial Reporting Council (AFRC) announced the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding with the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, expanding regulatory cooperation beyond the oversight of financial reporting and related auditing work of listed entities.This includes the financial and compliance reporting of licensed corporations, SFC-licensed virtual asset service providers, SFC-recognized funds, and registered open-ended fund companies, as well as the related auditing and assurance work conducted by their auditors.

According to BBX data, last weekend, publicly listed companies in the U.S. and European stock markets disclosed the latest developments in digital asset allocation and treasury strategy adjustments. The core information is as follows:Morgan Stanley's ETF increased its holdings by nearly 43 Bitcoin, with a total holding value of $779 million: On-chain tracking data shows that Wall Street investment banking giant Morgan Stanley withdrew 42.979 Bitcoin from its subsidiary's spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund MSBT on Saturday, extracting from the Coinbase Prime hot wallet address, valued at approximately $3.6 million based on the price at the time of withdrawal. Following this increase, Morgan Stanley's total Bitcoin holdings have now reached 9,261 BTC, with a total holding value of about $779 million.French semiconductor listed company Sequans liquidated 314 BTC, completely exiting its Bitcoin reserve strategy: French well-known semiconductor and IoT chip design listed company Sequans Communications disclosed that it has fully sold the 314 Bitcoin held on its balance sheet. This liquidation marks the company's official termination and complete exit from the previously established Bitcoin corporate treasury reserve strategy, and in the future, it will refocus its funds and liquidity on its core semiconductor business.

According to the Economic Daily, the shipment of optical CPO related equipment for joint packaging is increasing. Suppliers such as ZhiDe, GaoMingTie, and DongYouDa have stated that orders from Europe, America, and Asia are flooding in, with order visibility extending to the second quarter of next year, and they are simultaneously starting factory expansions. Customers' demand for high-precision motion platforms and automated optical coupling equipment is increasing, with a noticeable rise in clients from Southeast Asia, including Singapore and Malaysia, in addition to major manufacturers in Europe and America.ZhiDe stated that after receiving thousands of orders for international CPO equipment, they have recently made new gains and are negotiating cooperation on CPO alignment modules with domestic and major manufacturers in Europe and America, with overall orders initially looking at a thousand units. The company is expanding production in the Shugu Garden and Nanke Park in response to demand, expecting to launch new capacity in the fourth quarter and continue to ramp up production next year.GaoMingTie has been certified by the world's top ten optical communication brands and has secured orders for 800G and 1.6T optical module coupling alignment modules, with optical communication product revenue accounting for 79% in the first half of the year. The company has acquired about 60% equity in an optical and medical factory in Taichung, and after establishing a production assembly line, the estimated capacity can be expanded by more than double, with the Dongguan subsidiary expected to ramp up production after mid-next year. DongYouDa is collaborating with the Japanese company Junhe on CPO optical coupling equipment, with order visibility extending to the second quarter of next year, and has already initiated plans to establish factories in Vietnam, India, and Mexico, increasing capacity utilization from 70% by the end of 2025 to 80%.

Michael Saylor stated that as AI changes the way businesses are built, digital tokens can help 10 million new companies raise funds and reduce fundraising costs and delays. He advocates for simplifying issuance rules while retaining information disclosure and anti-fraud protections. Michael Saylor is the Executive Chairman of Bitcoin Treasury Company Strategy Inc.He proposed that companies could adapt rules for token issuance based on the type of issuance and set information disclosure requirements that match the risks, while reducing legal costs and retaining ownership protections and fraud accountability. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also proposed a cryptocurrency issuance exemption plan, one of which allows qualified issuers to raise up to $5 million within four years, and another allows raising up to $75 million every 12 months; both are still proposals and come with disclosure and anti-fraud requirements.