A bitcoin trader is staring down a potential $98 million liquidation after a punishing week wiped nearly $9.8 million from a Hyperliquid account. With 40x leverage and bitcoin’s price slipping toward $81,000, another sharp decline could finish the job.
Key Takeaways
A Hyperliquid trader holds a $97.87 million bitcoin long with 40x isolated leverage.
Bitcoin’s price traded near $81,117 on…
This Week in Crypto Law (October 18, 2026)
October 19, 2026
Law and Ledger is a news segment focusing on crypto legal news, brought to you by Kelman Law – A law firm focused on digital asset commerce.
The opinion editorial below was written by for Kelman.Law.
This Week in Crypto Law
This week’s developments show courts and…
Why RWA Tokenization and Onchain Credit Could Boost XRP Demand
October 19, 2026
Despite XRP’s sharp decline from its mid-2025 peak, institutional adoption and developer activity on the XRP Ledger remain resilient. Odelia Torteman, head of digital assets at XRPL Commons, argues that expanding enterprise use, real-world asset tokenization and upcoming…
XRP Ledger Nears Oct. 23 Upgrade as Lending Votes Fall Short
October 18, 2026
The XRP Ledger is heading toward an Oct. 23 software upgrade that fixes a peculiar security flaw, one that could let certain authorized accounts create tokens instead of destroying them. Meanwhile, its long-awaited native lending system remains stuck awaiting approval.
Key Takeaways
XRP Ledger’s fixCleanup3_4_0 targets Oct. 23 activation after securing more than 80% validator support.
XRPL’s…
Bitcoin Price at $81,500 Leaves Bulls and Bears at a Standoff
October 18, 2026
Bitcoin traded near $81,500 on Oct. 17, 2026, with its technical indicators offering competing signals. Shorter-term moving averages favored sellers, while longer-term averages continued to support buyers. The relative strength index (RSI) stood at 46, and the broader…
EU Joins 8 Nations to Sign Warsaw Protocol on Crypto Crime
October 18, 2026
The new treaty modernizes the Warsaw Convention treaty, adding crypto assets to its scope and expanding the attributions of financial intelligence units over these assets, highlighting the importance of international cooperation and reducing response times for information…
Claude AI Cracks the NSA’s 25-Year Cryptography Seed Mystery
October 17, 2026
For 25 years, cryptographers suspected the NSA’s mysterious encryption seeds might conceal a backdoor. Anthropic’s Claude artificial intelligence (AI) cracked the puzzle in under 30 minutes, uncovering a surprisingly ordinary explanation.
Key Takeaways
Anthropic says Claude solved a 25-year NSA encryption mystery in under 30 minutes.
NIST’s five prime-field curve seeds trace to a Unix-era…
Solana generated $193.1 million in application revenue over the past 30 days, nearly twice Hyperliquid’s total, according to Castle Labs research. More importantly, the network’s growth is spreading beyond meme coins, with real-world assets surging from $700 million to…
A new coalition of nine blockchain organizations is tackling a problem that could eventually put roughly 6.4 million bitcoin at risk, including an estimated 1.1 million BTC associated with Satoshi Nakamoto. Launched this week, the Quantum Alliance wants to establish common…
XRP Whales Move 1.67 Billion Tokens to Binance as Price Slips
October 16, 2026
Large XRP holders have transferred 1.669 billion XRP to Binance over the past 30 days, pushing the exchange’s whale inflow metric to its highest level in seven months, according to Cryptoquant contributor Arab Chain. The activity comes as XRP trades near $1.33 following a difficult October. Meanwhile, publicly attributed exchange wallets hold approximately 22.06 billion XRP, raising questions…
