🇺🇸 President Trump fundamentally transformed the future of finance with the signing of the GENIUS Act last year

U.S. Treasury’s OCC took a critical step toward implementing this historic legislation with the release of a final rule that delivers a federal framework for payment stablecoins that further cements American dominance in digital assets. 🏆

@QSIMedia

🤝 Chainlink Partners With LG CNS To Power Korea's Digital Asset Market

Chainlink and LG CNS, a leading AI Transformation and IT service company in Korea and the technology arm of LG Group, have entered a strategic partnership to advance the infrastructure underpinning Korea's $68 billion digital asset market.

LG Group is one of Korea’s largest business groups, with approximately ₩186 trillion in assets across 63 affiliates. LG CNS is the lead contractor for the Bank of Korea’s flagship digital currency initiative, Project Hangang. 🇰🇷

❗️Through the partnership, LG CNS and Chainlink will:

🟠 Enhance LG CNS’s digital asset platform solution with Chainlink’s cross-chain, data, and orchestration infrastructure;
🟠 Collaborate on digital asset solutions for Korean institutions using the full Chainlink platform;
🟠 Advance the next generation of technical standards underpinning Korea’s digital asset economy.

The partnership is built for one of the world’s most active and technologically advanced digital asset markets. Korea is Asia's second-largest digital asset market, with the Korean won consistently ranking second in crypto trading volume, behind only the U.S. dollar.

By combining LG CNS’s institutional expertise with Chainlink technology standards, the partnership establishes the foundation for compliant digital asset infrastructure in Korea and for global expansion. 🌏

@QSIMedia

🏠Treasury Unveils New Rules for Big Investor Homebuyers After Congress Set Limits

The Department of the Treasury unveiled the proposed rule that establishes standards for large institutional investors in the housing market.

🧑‍⚖️ It follows a January executive order from President Donald Trump meant to discourage investors from benefiting from federal assistance in home purchases.

"Treasury is working to ensure American families and workers have a fair shot at purchasing homes in their communities by increasing housing supply and limiting large institutional investors' role in the market, while supporting a strong, stable housing market and avoiding unnecessary disruption," —Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

🔘The new rules help define what makes a large instututional investor and create carve-outs to the rules — in particular, for renovate-to-rent businesses. Often these companies purchase homes that require more work than an average homebuyer can afford, and then flip them.

🔘The rules also clarify proposed penalties against real estate investors, which could reach up to $1 million, or three times the purchase price of a property.

The rules are open for public comment for 30 days.

@QSIMedia

🤑 U.S. Bank on Stellar: Why a 160-year-old bank chose an open network

🏆 The team at U.S. Bank knows that being a leader in payments means being on the cutting edge of payments infrastructure. Enter stablecoins.

In September, U.S. Bank officially launched the pilot of USBDC on the Stellar network.

USBDC is one of the first bank-issued stablecoins deployed on a public blockchain, and it’s designed to make cross-border payments more efficient than ever. 🚀

Jamie Walker, Head of Digital Assets & Money Movement, joins Denelle Dixon on block by block to discuss U.S. Bank's stablecoin pilot, what it unlocks, and why they launched it on Stellar.

“They say history repeats itself. When it comes to the world's most successful networks, that's a good thing. First, open networks shaped how we connect and share information.

Now, they're shaping how money moves,” — Denelle Dixon said. 💸

✴️ Watch the full video on X
🔥 Watch the video on YouTube

#Stellar

@QSIMedia

🇷🇺 The Ministry of Finance of Russia is developing a roadmap for launching experimental legal regimes in the field of tokenization

The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation is developing a roadmap for launching experimental legal regimes (EPR) in the field of tokenization.

🟠The first direction provides for the organization of the circulation of movable property, for which it is necessary to determine the key parameters of the corresponding EPR.

🟠The second direction is the tokenization of corporate rights, including shares in LLC, which will require making specific changes to the relevant legislation.

🟠The third direction is focused on tokenization of individual commodity exchange products.

❗️The potential volume of investments attracted to the sector may amount to several TRILLION rubles, according to Dmitry Frolov, Director of the Ministry's Financial Policy Department.

The action plan is being formed as part of the implementation of the Tokenization Concept for Real Sector Assets, which the Government approved in February 2026.

@QSIMedia

⚡️ Melania Trump secures Oleshky ceasefire between Russia, Ukraine, White House says

US first lady Melania Trump has secured ​a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine ‌in the Russian-controlled city of Oleshky, which will begin on October 29.

"Both ​nations agreed to temporarily stop all military ​action in Oleshky to allow for humanitarian aid to enter and to prepare a civilian evacuation ​through a designated safe passageway," — a ​White House statement said.

"Oleshky's remaining population is ​comprised primarily of elderly residents ​who ⁠urgently need medical attention, medicine, food, and clean water," — Melania Trump said.

@QSIMedia

💸 Musk Giving Tops $445 Million in Midterm Election Push for GOP

With a fresh infusion of cash to his super political action committee in the first two weeks of October, Elon Musk has now given more than $445 million in the current election cycle and become one of the biggest-ever contributors to such groups.

The world’s richest person put $77 million into America PAC, Federal Election Commission filings show, in an effort to elect Republicans in November midterm contests.

@QSIMedia

🤑 OpenZeppelin Brings Confidential Balances and Transfers to Stellar

As part of an ongoing partnership with the Stellar Development Foundation, OpenZeppelin is delivering the next major addition to its Stellar library: Confidential Token contracts.

💸 OpenZeppelin's contracts already run as core infrastructure on Stellar with more than $1.7B in total value locked across the network.

👉 Bringing confidential token primitives to the network extends that foundation into institutional and commercial applications. It gives regulated activity something it has largely gone without: the ability to transact without putting every balance and amount in public view.

👉 The contracts are audited by OpenZeppelin and ready to be deployed on Stellar mainnet. They implement the ERC-7984 confidential token interface, aligning this work with the shared standard the Confidential Token Association is driving across ecosystems, with Stellar and OpenZeppelin among its members.

OpenZeppelin Contracts for Stellar v0.8 is live, introducing the Confidential Token. 🚀

#Stellar

@QSIMedia

⚔️ The Pentagon is quietly building an elite new tech sabotage agency

The Pentagon has quietly created a secretive agency, the Technology Support Office (TSO), to develop cyberattacks, supply-chain sabotage and deception tactics aimed at slowing adversaries’ military technology programs, particularly those of China.

Led by Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg, the agency could oversee more than $1.5 billion in classified contracts.

@QSIMedia

⚡️🤑 Ascend and M1X Global Complete First Institutional Repo on Stellar Using USDM1 Secured Sovereign Bond

Ascend Markets, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of PSG Digital Labs, Inc. (“Ascend”), and M1X Global today announced the successful completion of the first institutional repurchase agreement (repo) on the Stellar network. 🎉

❗️The transaction utilized USDM1, a US dollar-denominated sovereign bond issued natively onchain and secured 1:1 by short-duration US Treasuries, and marks a milestone in bringing institutional secured financing onto the Stellar network, expanding the network’s established payments and transfer infrastructure into programmable repo markets.

🗓 Executed through Ascend’s institutional credit facility using the Stellar network’s smart contracts, the repo included 72 consecutive programmatic hourly rolls between October 16 and 19, including overnight and weekend financing without manual intervention.

⚪️The transaction was priced at SOFR plus 10 basis points, equivalent to an annualized financing rate of 3.98%, with interest accruing daily, a 2% collateral haircut and a maximum loan-to-value ratio of 98%.

⚪️The repo concluded with repayment and return of USDM1 collateral, with all aspects of the closing process completing successfully. The trade is a demonstration of the capital efficiency of tokenized sovereign collateral and Ascend’s support for the asset class.

The first completed institutional repo on the Stellar network establishes an operational foundation for additional institutional repo and secured financing activity. 🚀

#Stellar

@QSIMedia

🤖 SpaceX Works With Apollo, Nvidia on New Grok Partnership Program

SpaceX is working with Apollo Global Management, Nvidia Corp. and dozens of other firms on a new partnership program to deploy and improve its Grok AI systems, part of a bid to bolster business adoption of its AI offerings.

More than 130 companies gained early access to the Super Intelligence Partner Network, including tech firms like Snowflake Inc. and Databricks Inc. as well as consultancies such as Bain & Co. and Booz Allen Hamilton. Galatiq, a firm that provides forward-deployed engineers to help bring Grok’s technology to companies, is also part of the program.

@QSIMedia

🇸🇬🇲🇾🇹🇭Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand central banks expand cross-border stablecoin initiative involving Ripple, Visa and Mastercard

The central banks of Malaysia and Thailand are joining Singapore's BLOOM (Borderless, Liquid, Open, Online, Multi-currency) initiative to work on cross-border payments involving stablecoins and tokenized deposits.

Singapore's Monetary Authority (MAS) confirmed Friday that Bank Negara Malaysia and the Bank of Thailand had joined as policymaker members. Ripple, Visa, Mastercard, and the World Bank Group are also among the initiative's participants, alongside Circle, Coinbase, JPMorgan, Standard Chartered, and Stripe.

BLOOM began in October last year, with MAS bringing together banks and technology firms to test payments using tokenized bank money and regulated stablecoins. Singapore has separately tested a wholesale central bank digital currency.

#Stellar

@QSIMedia

🛸 White House Releases New UFO Files on Black Triangle Sightings

The White House unveiled 28 new declassified UFO documents, focusing on recent sightings of silent, seamless black triangular craft near a western U.S. military site. Witnesses described the objects hovering for 20 seconds before accelerating to about 1,800 mph with no exhaust, engines, or heat variations — details that don't match known U.S. technology. 👀

@QSIMedia

🏦 US banks scramble to restrict AI agent activity

Major U.S. banks are detecting unauthorized third-party AI agents operating inside customer accounts, with some agents attempting to take actions that appear to be independent of user instructions. Banks including Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and others are racing to contain agent risks.

These are generally situations when an agent or AI assistant accesses a human's account with the user's permission and login credentials. Even if permitted by the user, this goes against the guidelines of most banks requiring that humans log in to their own accounts.

One bank executive said they struggle to differentiate between agents, as well as whether an agent has been authorized by a user or has gone rogue and gained access to a customer account.

Banks are investing in preventing worst-case scenarios, but they are also preparing in case they do happen, including with "day after" scenario planning that would allow them to quickly secure or restore customer access.

@QSIMedia

💊 Alnylam says Huntington’s drug shows promise in early study

An experimental Huntington’s drug from Alnylam Pharmaceuticals showed promise in a small study, suggesting it can partially silence the mutant gene that drives the devastating neurological disorder.

Patients who received the highest dose of the drug, called brezosiran, saw the levels of mutant huntingtin in their spinal fluid fall by 60% or 64% on average, depending on the type of assay used. The company described the safety profile as “encouraging” and said it planned to start a placebo-controlled study next year to prove the drug can actually slow the disease.

Huntington’s disease is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder caused by an expanded CAG repeat in the HTT gene. Typically manifesting between ages 30 and 50, it causes widespread neuronal loss, motor dysfunction, cognitive decline, and psychiatric symptoms.

Currently, no approved disease-modifying therapies can slow or halt its progression.

@QSIMedia

🇨🇳 China Sets 2030 Target for National Blockchain Network in New Five-Year Informatization Plan

China has codified in an official document its goal of largely completing the construction of a national blockchain network by 2030. The move reflects a push to elevate blockchain — long designated a national priority sector — to the level of core infrastructure.

The Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, the digital policy body under the Chinese Communist Party, released the "15th Five-Year Plan for National Informatization," which explicitly sets the goal of largely completing the national blockchain network by 2030.

The plan is notable for allocating blockchain applications by region. In the Yangtze River Delta region, blockchain use will be expanded in trade and finance, while in southwestern areas such as Chengdu and Chongqing it will be deployed on a large scale in manufacturing and agriculture.

The plan also sets out tasks to strengthen blockchain technical standards and broaden applications in data circulation and trading.

@QSIMedia

🤖 Microsoft Teams to get AI-powered, context-aware phishing detection

Microsoft says Teams will begin using AI-powered phishing detection in early November 2026 to detect malicious behavior in messages. The rollout is part of a targeted release phase expected to end by mid-November, with the new security feature likely reaching general availability worldwide between early and mid-December.

"The capability analyzes conversation context to identify suspicious behavior that may not include traditional indicators such as malicious links or files," —  the company said in a Microsoft 365 Message Center update.

@QSIMedia

🪙 Heatbit Introduces Bitwater: A Water Heater Element That Mines Bitcoin

It screws into the electric tank you already have. A regular element heats water through a resistance wire. Bitwater does it with 20 Bitcoin mining chips instead. Same heat, same electricity, plus bitcoin.

First deliveries are expected in Q1 2027.

@QSIMedia