<h2 style="text-align: left;" id="trump-taps-intel-chief-jay-clayton-to-lead-new-super-intelligence-force">Trump taps intel chief Jay Clayton to lead new Super Intelligence Force</h2>
<p style="text-align: left;">President Donald Trump has named Jay Clayton, US director of national intelligence, to lead the <a href="https://ct.com/news/trump-taps-jay-clayton-to-lead-new-super-intelligence-force" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">country’s new Super Intelligence Force</a>, according to a post on Truth Social on Sunday.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">“The Super Intelligence Force is tasked with coordinating the effort of the Federal Government to ensure that America continues to lead the World in Super Intelligence,” Trump wrote in his <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117382616783706638" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">post</a>.</p><img src="https://s3-images.ctmedia.io/media/content/2026/10/01M44DPVCPRZ97N0965FDNVVTP/jensen-huang-ai-artwork.png" alt="" width="1264" height="842">
<p>Clayton led the Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump’s first term and launched a prosecution against Ripple for selling securities on his last day in office, and as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York led the criminal trial against Roman Storm for his involvement in Tornado Cash. Storm commented:</p>
<blockquote>
 “It doesn’t look like we’re headed toward a future that supports open-source AI.”
</blockquote>
<p>Trump’s buddy Elon Musk is renaming SpaceXAI to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/musk-says-he-will-rename-spacexai-spacexsi-2026-10-04/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">SpaceXSI</a> to honor the President’s directive to rename “artificial intelligence” to “super intelligence.”</p><img src="https://s3-images.ctmedia.io/media/content/2026/10/01M44CYQSEKA00CNA2C38HRXAK/roman-storm.jpg" alt="" width="596" height="440">
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Source: Roman Storm</em></p>
<h2 id="near-intents-hack-has-a-happy-ending">NEAR Intents hack has a happy ending</h2>
<p>NEAR has been riding a wave of positive sentiment lately and has more than doubled in price over the past month. This week it received praise in some quarters — and criticism in others — after its SHIELD AI system blocked Bitget’s hacked funds from its INTENTS cross chain swaps platform. Its Bitwise ETF debuted this week with almost $60 million of inflows.</p>
<p><a href="https://ct.com/news/near-intents-exploit-assistance-bitget-hack" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">SHIELD also helped to halt a $3.8 million exploit </a>of NEAR Intents due to a “bug in the Omni deposit and withdrawal infrastructure interaction with NEAR Intents smart contract.”<br><br>Sentiment flipped bearish for about seven and a half minutes, until NEAR Intents general manager Alex Shevchenko posted like a boss&nbsp;“we have identified you, sir” <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/near-intents-says-its-identified-the-hacker-gives-48-hour-ultimatum" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">and issued a 48 hour ultimatum </a>to return the funds or to presumably face the full force of the law.</p>
<blockquote>
 “You know better than most how responsible disclosure works — this is the last window to use it. After 48 hours, that window closes.”
</blockquote>
<p>The funds were duly returned, and Shevchenko urged other exploiters thinking of LARPing as white hat hackers to “use bug bounties instead of disrupting the services.”</p>
<p>The move to block Bitget’s stolen funds sparked a lot of debate and was in stark contract to THORChain which has refused to block swaps on its platform, pointing to ideals around decentralization.</p>
<p><a href="https://ct.com/magazine/furious-debate-about-thorchain-vs-near-shows-idealism-has-limits" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">There is also a live debate over whether SHIELD blocking funds leaves it legally liable</a> for everything that happens on the platform in future.</p>
<p>NEAR is down 11% this week.</p><img src="https://s3-images.ctmedia.io/media/content/2026/10/01M44ES41Z4EX5WCE91AVM0V9A/omid-malekan-suit.png" alt="" width="1450" height="966">
<h2 id="arthur-hayes-says-money-printing-is-inevitable">Arthur Hayes says money printing is inevitable</h2>
<p>Money printing is coming due to the AI revolution, the United State’s debt crisis, and increasing financial stress in France, says Arthur Hayes, chief investment officer at Maelstrom fund.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">AI companies need trillions of dollars to finance data centers even as the prices of their services fall, <a href="https://ct.com/news/connect-recap-arthur-hayes-money-printing-wall-street-onchain" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Hayes said at a fireside chat at CONNECT by Cointelegraph: Seoul Edition</a>, on Tuesday during Korea Blockchain Week.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">“They’ve not really given themselves a lot of options other than print money and make it less bad,” he said.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Hayes also discussed China potentially moving to monetary stimulus along with increasing financial stress in France, including credit-default swaps tied to BNP Paribas and French government bond spreads.&nbsp;</p><img src="https://s3-images.ctmedia.io/media/content/2026/10/01M44DYSTAZATJ6HMDK00NE6JD/arthur-hayes-new.webp" alt="" width="960" height="640">
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes speaking at CONNECT by Cointelegraph: Seoul Edition.</em></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;" id="blast-to-wind-down-ethereum-l2-after-costs-outpace-revenue">Blast to wind down Ethereum L2 after costs outpace revenue</h2>
<p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://ct.com/news/blast-to-wind-down-ethereum-l2-after-costs-outpace-revenue" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Ethereum layer-2 network Blast is shutting down </a>after its operating costs exceeded the revenue generated by the chain.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">In a Friday post on X, Blast said it sees no “credible path” to making the network economically sustainable and asked users to withdraw their assets to Ethereum mainnet: “Unfortunately, the economics of operating the chain no longer make sense.”<br>Blast was founded by Tieshun “Pacman” Roquerre, the founder of NFT marketplace Blur, in November 2023 with native yield on Ether and stablecoins and a points program tied to an anticipated token airdrop.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">The strategy helped attract more than $2 billion in deposits before mainnet <a href="https://public.bnbstatic.com/static/files/research/half-year-report-2024.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">launched</a> in February 2024. &nbsp;Its DeFi total value locked has fallen by more than 98% since its June 2024 peak, according to DeFiLlama <a href="https://defillama.com/chain/blast" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">data</a>.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;" id="ethereum-schedules-glamsterdam-upgrade-on-sepolia-for-oct-6">Ethereum schedules Glamsterdam upgrade on Sepolia for Oct. 6</h2>
<p style="text-align: left;">Ethereum developers have scheduled the network’s next major upgrade, Glamsterdam, to activate on the Sepolia testnet on Oct. 6.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Sepolia node operators must update both their execution-layer and consensus-layer clients before the activation, the Ethereum Foundation <a href="https://blog.ethereum.org/en/2026/09/17/glamsterdam-testnet-announcement" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">said</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">One of Glamsterdam’s changes is enshrined proposer-builder separation. It will move the handoff between specialized block builders and validators into Ethereum’s protocol, reducing reliance on outside middleware.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Glamsterdam will introduce block-level access lists, which record the accounts and storage locations used during each block, and will enable parallel processing by clients to speed up throughput.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><br></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;" id="span-style-text-decoration-underline-winners-and-losers-span"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Winners and Losers</span></h2>
<p><strong>At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is up 1.4% to trade at $85,821, Ethereum (ETH) is up 0.6% to trade at $2,701 and XRP (XRP) is down 0.8% to $1.50. The total market cap is at $2.92 trillion according to CoinMarketCap.</strong></p>
<p><strong>Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin winners of the week are Midnight (NIGHT) with a 60.6% gain, StarkNet (SRK) on 14.5%, and Pump.fun (PUMP) on 26.3%.</strong></p>
<p><strong>The top three altcoin losers of the week are Lighter (LIT) which was down 22.2%, Zcash (SEC) down 16.4% and Ethena (ENA) down 14%.</strong></p>
<h2 id="span-style-text-decoration-underline-prediction-of-the-week-span"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Prediction of the Week</span></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: left;" id="peter-brandt-says-bitcoin-may-hit-600k-by-2029">Peter Brandt says Bitcoin may hit $600K by 2029</h2>
<p>Veteran trader Peter Brandt&nbsp;has flipped bullish, after warning in Julyt that prices could fall into the high $40K zone.</p>
<p>“There’s <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/peter-brandt-says-bitcoin-may-hit-600k-by-2029-calls-xrp-a-fool-coin" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">a good possibility we have seen the low and now are entering a new bull market </a>cycle in Bitcoin,” Brandt <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5bsHokgzW0" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">told</a> Cointelegraph on the latest episode of Trade Secrets.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Brandt has also raised his sights for Bitcoin’s next peak, putting a late-2029 high of between $300,000 and $600,000, up from the $250,000 to $300,000 range he outlined in July.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">“The bull market cycle this time has a very good chance of reaching half a million,” he said.</p><img src="https://s3-images.ctmedia.io/media/content/2026/10/01M44F9QWXA6JAXDW0KCXCG6FJ/peter-brandt-new.png" alt="" width="1450" height="966">
<h2 id="span-style-text-decoration-underline-top-fud-of-the-week-span"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Top FUD of the Week</span></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: left;" id="crypto-hacks-top-768m-in-september-worst-month-of-2026">Crypto hacks top $768M in September, worst month of 2026</h2>
<p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-hacks-total-766m-in-september-peckshield" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Crypto suffered its worst month of the year for hacks and exploits in September</a>, with two blockchain security firms estimating losses at more than $766 million.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">PeckShield <a href="https://x.com/PeckShieldAlert/status/2105505048377848307?s=20" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">counted</a> 55 major incidents resulting in $766.5 million in stolen funds, while CertiK recorded 97 incidents and estimated losses at $768.4 million.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">The month included the <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitget-operations-protection-fund-security-breach" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$388 million Bitget hack</a> and a $320 million hack of the Liquid Network. More than <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/liquid-white-hats-return-270m-bitcoin-network-restart" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$270 million was later returned</a>, according to reports.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">“September was a stark reminder of how quickly the threat landscape can shift,” CertiK said.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Other crypto hacks in the month included Safe Wallet, DCENT, and Duelbits, which lost $7.8 million, $6 million and $5.9 million, respectively.</p><img src="https://s3-images.ctmedia.io/media/content/2026/10/01M44FE69RYQVKCG01G7B20QW3/ghack.webp" alt="" width="960" height="485">
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Largest incidents in September. Source: CertiK</em></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;" id="aave-founder-says-v3-unaffected-after-third-party-adapter-exploit-drains-305k">Aave founder says V3 unaffected after third-party adapter exploit drains $305K</h2>
<p style="text-align: left;">Aave founder Stani Kulechov said <a href="https://ct.com/news/aave-v3-third-party-adapter-exploit-305k" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Aave v3 was unaffected by an exploit </a>that drained roughly $305,000 from two Safe multisig wallets through a third-party adapter built on top of the lending protocol.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">“This is not Aave v3 contract, it’s third party external adapter built on top of Aave, zero effect on Aave v3,” Kulechov <a href="https://x.com/StaniKulechov/status/2105892291638436078" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">said</a> on X.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;" id="tether-says-it-helped-freeze-550m-in-iran-linked-usdt-this-year">Tether says it helped freeze $550M in Iran-linked USDT this year</h2>
<p style="text-align: left;">Stablecoin issuer Tether <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/tether-says-it-helped-freeze-550m-in-iran-linked-usdt-this-year" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">said it helped authorities freeze nearly $550 million in Iran-linked USDT</a> during 2026,</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">The statement from Tether came as Democratic investigators on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations <a href="https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/blumenthal-releases-psi-report-detailing-how-lutnick-linked-crypto-firm-tether-props-up-irans-shadow-banking-system" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">released</span></a> a report alleging USDT had become a key channel for Iran to evade sanctions.&nbsp;</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Investigators found that 84% of 846 crypto wallets sanctioned over ties to Iran had transacted exclusively or nearly exclusively in USDT. The findings prompted US Senator Richard Blumenthal to call on the Treasury and Justice departments to investigate potential sanctions violations.</p>
<h2 id="span-style-text-decoration-underline-top-magazine-features-of-the-week-span"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Top Magazine Features of the Week</span></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: left;" id="a-href-https-cointelegraph-com-magazine-furious-debate-about-thorchain-vs-near-shows-idealism-has-limits-rel-noopener-noreferrer-nofollow-furious-debate-about-thorchain-vs-near-shows-idealism-has-limits-a"><a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/furious-debate-about-thorchain-vs-near-shows-idealism-has-limits" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Furious debate about THORChain vs NEAR shows idealism has limits</a></h2>
<p>The furious debate over Bitget’s $387.7M of hacked funds comes down to whether ideals around “permissionless and decentralized” tech means never intervening — even if you could.</p><img src="https://s3-images.ctmedia.io/media/content/2026/10/01M44GJ4DXG6TXEXADJ3M2CWV2/thor.webp" alt="" width="960" height="540">
<h2 style="text-align: left;" id="a-href-https-cointelegraph-com-magazine-does-thorchain-face-a-criminal-reckoning-near-intents-bitget-rel-noopener-noreferrer-nofollow-could-thorchain-face-prosecution-over-stolen-bitget-funds-legal-opinion-a"><a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/does-thorchain-face-a-criminal-reckoning-near-intents-bitget" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Could THORChain face prosecution over stolen Bitget funds? Legal opinion</a></h2>
<p>THORChain will not — or can not — block addresses linked to the $387.5 million Bitget hack. Can the devs be prosecuted for money laundering? It’s complicated, says crypto lawyer Yuriy Brisov.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;" id="a-href-https-cointelegraph-com-magazine-stablecoins-can-drain-from-banks-and-nations-at-lightning-speed-rel-noopener-noreferrer-nofollow-stablecoins-can-drain-from-banks-and-nations-at-lightning-speed-a"><a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/stablecoins-can-drain-from-banks-and-nations-at-lightning-speed" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Stablecoins can drain from banks and nations at lightning speed</a></h2>
<p>Highly liquid and settling 24/7, stablecoins can leave banks and countries at lightning speed. But whether stablecoins are a risk — or an opportunity — depends on your perspective.</p>

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