📉 October’s mood: from “Uptober” to “What-the-tober”

October closed out on a wobble as BTC slid under $108K, crypto stocks followed, and the month chalked up one of Bitcoin’s weakest Octobers in years. Risk assets caught the same macro chills, with a turbulent stretch where gold outperformed while tech and crypto were down. Some consider it the palette cleanser after an overheated Q3 - a little annoying, but not fatal to the broader uptrend. (CoinDesk; Decrypt)

🏛️ Shutdown inches toward the record books

In D.C., the federal government shutdown is now looking at record duration, introducing a slow-burn uncertainty across approvals, enforcement, and anything that requires a functioning bureaucracy. Markets haven’t panicked, but the longer the pause, the greater the backlog for crypto rulemaking and ETFs. Ironically, every policy vacuum tends to strengthen the “be your own bank” narrative.(CoinDesk)

💸 Stablecoins keep winning remittances 

New data and disclosures show stablecoins continuing to chip away at cross-border payments, with traditional players now openly piloting on-chain rails. Lower fees and instant settlement are doing what a decade of glossy fintech ads couldn’t: making money movement actually feel modern. If your relatives start using stablecoins without realizing it, adoption may have just leveled up. (Blockworks)

🛒 Mastercard shops for stablecoin plumbing

Mastercard is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire ZeroHash for up to $2B, a bid to own more of the stablecoin back-end that powers custody, issuance, and settlement. In a matter of months, we saw the card networks move from debating if stablecoins matter to deciding which pipes to control. If this closes, we expect stablecoin UX to get a lot more “tap-to-pay.” (Reuters)

🗳️ Truth Social spins up a prediction market

Trump Media & Technology Group is launching Truth Predict, a Polymarket-style betting venue for real-world outcomes on politics, sports, culture, the works. Looks like prediction markets just graduated from crypto-native curiosity to mainstream content strategy. We are expecting heat on licensing, KYC, and market integrity from day one. (Blockworks)

🧱 Strategy eyes global credit expansion

Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) flagged plans to expand its digital credit business internationally while cleaning up its convertibles. This corporate finance meets crypto treasury 2.0 move is the BTC-on-balance-sheet playbook evolving from mere headlines to a business line. Michael Saylor keeps chipping away and turning narrative into operations. (CoinDesk)

🔮 POLY confirmed: Polymarket’s token is coming

Polymarket’s CMO confirmed plans for a POLY token (with an airdrop) tied to the platform’s U.S. relaunch, the clearest public signal yet that prediction markets are gearing for prime time. Token design will matter: incentives can supercharge liquidity, or distort it beyond usefulness. Either way, the category’s next phase just got funding…and a ticker. (Blockworks)