Nscale founder and CEO Josh Payne stated that despite market skepticism, the company is proceeding with its planned IPO, targeting a $30 billion valuation. Nscale claims to have signed $103 billion in contracts, but as of August 2026, it has only delivered 55 megawatts of computing power, and projects face delays, security violations, and operational challenges. Microsoft has already withdrawn from one of its UK data center projects. (Source: Bloomberg)

[Aiden Pleterski's Case Enters Jury Deliberation After Closing Arguments] The criminal case against Canadian Aiden Pleterski, accused of a $30 million digital asset Ponzi scheme, has entered jury deliberation after closing arguments. Pleterski is accused of defrauding his social media followers between 2021 and 2022 and was charged with fraud in 2024. If convicted, he could face up to 14 years in prison. (Source: CBC)

[Hifi Finance Suffers DAO Governance Threat, $1 Million in Assets Transferred] DeFi protocol Hifi Finance suffered a DAO governance power grab. Attackers gained control through four votes funded by Tornado Cash, issued 25 million governance tokens, and transferred approximately $1 million in user-staking assets, most of which were RWA tokens.

Global stablecoin payment card spending reached $1.231 billion in September 2026, with cumulative spending in the third quarter reaching approximately $3.394 billion. RedotPay's spending in September was approximately $403 million, and its market share decreased from approximately 85% to approximately 33%. Stablecoin payment cards are highly dependent on traditional card organizations, with Visa processing the vast majority of transactions.

Visa disclosed in its Q4 FY2026 earnings call that its stablecoin-settled annualized transaction volume exceeded $25 billion, a tenfold year-over-year increase, and currently supports 10 blockchains and operates in 5 regions. The Visa stablecoin platform is available in the US, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Switzerland, and the UK, with over 300 partners; OpenUSD launched on September 30th, and as of October 15th, its circulating supply exceeded $800 million. Furthermore, Visa has over 225 stablecoin-linked card projects, representing a year-over-year increase of over 70%, with transaction volume growing by over 150%, covering 5 million cards in over 50 countries.