EU Cyber Resilience Act Brings 24-Hour Vulnerability Reporting Into Force

TL;DR

• Parts of the EU Cyber Resilience Act’s vulnerability-reporting regime are now applicable.
• Manufacturers must issue early warnings for actively exploited vulnerabilities within 24 hours.
• Commercial crypto wallets can fall within the broader category of products with digital elements.

One of the more practical pieces of Europe’s Cyber Resilience Act is starting to matter for software companies: the clock on exploited vulnerabilities is getting much shorter.

The EU framework requires manufacturers of products with digital elements to issue an early warning after becoming aware that a vulnerability is being actively exploited.

The initial reporting window is 24 hours, with more detailed follow-up information required later.

The rules sit inside the EU’s wider Cyber Resilience Act, which covers connected hardware and software products sold into the European market.

Crypto Wallets Sit Inside A Much Bigger Rulebook

This is not a crypto-specific law.

That is worth making clear because the implications for wallets come from the way the CRA defines digital products rather than from a special section written specifically for crypto.

Commercial hardware wallets and wallet software placed on the EU market can fall within the broader scope of products with digital elements.

That gives wallet manufacturers another set of security obligations to think about alongside financial and data-protection rules.

The practical expectation is simple enough: if a serious vulnerability is being actively exploited, regulators want to hear about it quickly.

Waiting until a full technical investigation has been completed is no longer the model.

Twenty-Four Hours Changes Incident Response

For engineering teams, a 24-hour warning requirement changes how vulnerabilities are handled internally.

A company may still be trying to understand exactly how an exploit works when the reporting obligation begins.

That means legal, security and engineering teams need a process for escalating an incident quickly enough to decide whether the threshold has been met.

The law also draws distinctions around open-source software.

Purely non-commercial open-source development receives different treatment from commercial products placed on the market, an important carve-out for the wider software ecosystem.

For crypto companies, the main lesson is that wallet security is increasingly being regulated as ordinary software security.

That may sound obvious, but historically the crypto conversation has tended to separate smart-contract risk, custody risk and cybersecurity into different buckets.

Europe is increasingly treating them as overlapping parts of the same operational-resilience problem.

Source: European Union Cyber Resilience Act — https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32024R2847

This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.

This report is based on information released by Eur-lex. at Eur-lex

from NewsBTC https://ift.tt/oIYLFAJ

Treasury Sanctions BitBank Over Iranian Crypto Sanctions-Evasion Network

TL;DR

• U.S. Treasury has sanctioned Iranian digital asset exchange BitBank.
• OFAC says the platform was part of a network tied to sanctioned financier Babak Zanjani.
• Treasury alleges the infrastructure helped move hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin connected to the IRGC.

The U.S. Treasury has targeted another part of Iran’s crypto infrastructure, this time placing digital asset exchange BitBank under sanctions.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control designated BitBank as part of what Treasury describes as a sanctions-evasion network tied to Iranian financier Babak Zanjani.

Treasury also sanctioned BitBank developer Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company and several individuals linked to Zanjani’s wider business network.

The allegations are substantial.

OFAC says Zanjani used BitBank between June and July to facilitate the movement of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Bitcoin to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Those are U.S. government allegations underlying the sanctions designation, not a criminal conviction.

Crypto Infrastructure Moves Higher Up The Sanctions List

The action is part of a broader Treasury campaign against Iran-linked financial infrastructure.

In previous enforcement rounds, OFAC has targeted banks, exchanges, facilitators and digital asset businesses it says help sanctioned actors move money outside conventional banking channels.

BitBank is particularly interesting because Treasury is not simply tracing one wallet or identifying a handful of addresses.

It is sanctioning an operating digital asset business and the software company behind it.

That suggests U.S. enforcement is increasingly treating crypto infrastructure in much the same way it treats banks, payment processors or front companies when officials believe the underlying business is being used to circumvent sanctions.

Compliance Teams Will Be Paying Attention

For exchanges and institutional crypto firms, the practical impact extends beyond BitBank itself.

Once OFAC designates an entity, U.S. persons are generally prohibited from dealing with it, while compliance systems around the world begin screening connected entities, addresses and counterparties.

That can quickly turn a Treasury announcement into a much wider operational issue.

The crypto industry has spent years building blockchain analytics and wallet-screening systems partly for situations like this.

Public ledgers make movements traceable in a way cash often is not, but traceability does not remove the need for sanctions controls.

If anything, Treasury’s recent activity shows that the government increasingly expects crypto businesses to treat digital asset sanctions risk as part of ordinary financial compliance.

Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury / OFAC — https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0632

This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.

This report is based on information released by Home. at Home

from NewsBTC https://ift.tt/6A85SYd

Chainalysis Warns Malware Operators Are Turning Blockchains Into Dead Drops

TL;DR

• Chainalysis says cyber attackers are increasingly storing malware instructions on public blockchains.
• It calls the technique “Blockchain Dead Drops.”
• The blockchain itself is not compromised; attackers are using its public, persistent data layer.

Cybercriminals have found a new use for public blockchains, and it has nothing to do with moving money.

Chainalysis says a growing number of threat actors are storing command-and-control information for malware directly on-chain, creating what the analytics firm calls Blockchain Dead Drops, or BDDs.

The idea is clever in an unpleasant sort of way.

Traditional malware often relies on a server or domain to tell infected machines what to do next. Security teams can block the domain, seize the server or disrupt the infrastructure.

A public blockchain is considerably harder to take offline.

Attackers can place configuration data, addresses or pointers inside transactions or smart contract state and then instruct malware to read that information directly from the chain.

The Blockchain Becomes The Noticeboard

Chainalysis describes the wider technique as EtherHiding.

Instead of compromising a blockchain protocol, attackers are effectively using the network as a highly resilient public bulletin board.

Once information is written on-chain, defenders cannot simply delete it.

That makes BDDs attractive for command-and-control infrastructure because attackers can change the data their malware reads without relying on a conventional web server that could be seized.

Chainalysis says activity involving these techniques has climbed sharply, with malicious on-chain writes rising about 440% since mid-2025. The research links different forms of the technique to actors associated with North Korea and Iran, as well as financially motivated Russian-language cybercrime groups.

Those attribution claims come from Chainalysis’ own research and should be read that way.

This Is Not A Blockchain Exploit

That distinction is important.

Nothing about this technique suggests that Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB Chain, Tron or other networks have had their underlying cryptography broken.

The attacker is using a feature that blockchains are deliberately designed to provide: public, persistent data.

It is the same property that allows anyone to verify transactions years later.

The security problem appears when malware treats that permanent data layer as infrastructure.

That creates a frustrating problem for defenders. The malicious software can still be detected and removed from infected devices, but the data it relies on may remain publicly accessible indefinitely.

For crypto infrastructure operators, wallet providers and security teams, that means monitoring blockchain activity increasingly has to account for more than stolen funds and suspicious transfers.

Sometimes the payload is information itself.

Source: Chainalysis research — https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/etherhiding-blockchain-dead-drops/

This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.

This report is based on information released by Chainalysis. at Chainalysis

from NewsBTC https://ift.tt/G3T4sCA

Ethereum ETFs Add $29.4M Friday As Fidelity Leads Reported Flows

TL;DR

• U.S. Ethereum ETFs recorded $29.4 million in net inflows on September 18.
• Fidelity’s FETH brought in $26.2 million.
• The move followed three consecutive sessions of net outflows.

Ethereum ETF flows finally turned positive on Friday, although the rebound was considerably smaller than the one seen in Bitcoin funds.

U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs recorded $29.4 million in combined net inflows on September 18, according to Farside Investors. Fidelity’s FETH was responsible for $26.2 million of that figure.

Bitwise’s ETHW added $1.3 million and VanEck’s ETHV brought in $1.9 million. The remaining funds reported no net movement for the session.

It wasn’t a huge day, but after the previous few sessions, green was probably welcome.

Three Difficult Sessions Came First

Ethereum funds had been under steady pressure heading into Friday.

September 15 produced a $142 million net outflow, followed by another $224.1 million leaving the funds on September 16. September 17 added a further $39.3 million in redemptions.

That means Friday’s $29.4 million inflow only recovers a small portion of the money that left earlier in the week.

Still, the composition is interesting.

Fidelity was the clear buyer, while BlackRock’s ETHA recorded no net flow after being one of the major sources of outflows earlier in the week.

ETF capital can move very differently from crypto’s spot market. Sometimes that reflects portfolio rebalancing, sometimes a large allocator moving through a particular issuer, and sometimes it is simply the timing of creations and redemptions.

A Rebound, Not A Reset

That’s probably the right way to read Friday’s number.

It is a rebound, but not enough to say the week’s outflows have suddenly been reversed.

What it does tell us is that demand for Ethereum exposure through regulated funds hasn’t disappeared. Even after several difficult sessions, buyers were still willing to put fresh capital into the products.

The next few sessions will tell us more.

If inflows broaden beyond Fidelity and begin showing up across multiple issuers, that would look more like a genuine change in the short-term flow pattern. If not, Friday may simply prove to have been a pause in a choppier stretch.

Either way, the ETF market gave Ethereum investors their first positive session after several days of redemptions.

Source: Farside Investors — https://farside.co.uk/eth/

This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.

This report is based on information released by Farside. at Farside

from NewsBTC https://ift.tt/me7Fp8i

Bitcoin ETFs Add $324.6M As Fidelity Dominates Friday Flows

TL;DR

• U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $324.6 million in net inflows on September 18.
• Fidelity’s FBTC accounted for $310.7 million of the total.
• BlackRock’s IBIT recorded no net flow for the session.

Bitcoin ETF money came back in force on Friday, but almost all of it landed in one place.

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a combined $324.6 million in net inflows on September 18, according to Farside Investors, reversing some of the heavy redemptions seen earlier in the week.

Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund did most of the lifting.

FBTC took in $310.7 million during the session, accounting for roughly 96% of the group’s net inflow. Bitwise’s BITB added $9.7 million, ARKB brought in $1.9 million and VanEck’s HODL added $2.3 million.

BlackRock’s IBIT, normally one of the largest contributors on strong flow days, finished flat.

Fidelity Took The Whole Session

The concentration is probably the most interesting part of the numbers.

ETF flow headlines often get reduced to one big aggregate figure, but Friday wasn’t a broad wave of institutional buying across every issuer. It was overwhelmingly a Fidelity day.

That matters because the previous sessions had been rough.

The funds recorded a $450.4 million combined outflow on September 15 and another $295.9 million outflow on September 16 before returning to positive territory with $159.5 million on September 17.

Friday extended that rebound.

It doesn’t erase the earlier selling, but it does show buyers were willing to step back in quickly after two particularly weak sessions.

ETF Demand Is Still Moving In Bursts

That stop-start pattern has become one of the defining features of the ETF market.

Large institutional allocations do not arrive smoothly. A few hundred million dollars can leave one day and return through a different issuer two sessions later.

For Bitcoin, that makes the daily flow table useful without making any one row decisive.

Friday’s $324.6 million is meaningful, particularly because FBTC absorbed such a large allocation. But it is still one trading day rather than evidence that every institution has suddenly turned bullish again.

The better read is that ETF demand remains active and capable of snapping back quickly after periods of selling.

And this time, Fidelity was very clearly at the center of it.

Source: Farside Investors — https://farside.co.uk/btc/

This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.

This report is based on information released by Farside. at Farside

from NewsBTC https://ift.tt/QUKjRGn

CFTC Crypto Asset Rules Enter White House Review

TL;DR

• A new CFTC crypto rulemaking has entered White House regulatory review.
• The filing covers “Crypto Asset Transactions” and “Crypto Asset Markets.”
• It is still at the pre-rule stage, so nothing has taken effect yet.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has moved a new crypto rulemaking into White House review, giving the market its clearest sign yet that the agency is preparing a broader framework for digital asset trading.

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs lists a CFTC submission under RIN 3038-AF80 titled “Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets.” The filing was received on September 17 and remains under review.

That title is broad enough to matter.

The CFTC already oversees futures, options and other derivatives markets, and crypto firms have spent years trying to work out how products such as perpetual-style contracts fit within the existing U.S. rulebook. A formal rulemaking could start turning some of those grey areas into something more concrete.

The Important Bit Is The Stage

This is not a final rule.

OIRA lists the submission as a pre-rule and its status remains pending. In practical terms, that means the proposal is still going through executive-branch review before the public sees the full shape of whatever the CFTC intends to put forward.

That distinction matters because regulatory headlines often get several steps ahead of the actual process.

There is no new trading permission taking effect today, no fresh compliance deadline and no automatic change to how exchanges can offer derivatives to U.S. customers.

What has changed is that a formal agency rulemaking is now moving.

Why Crypto Firms Will Be Watching Closely

The CFTC has already spent much of 2026 dealing with crypto market structure in smaller pieces.

Earlier this year, the agency issued guidance and no-action positions around crypto derivatives, perpetual-style products and registrant activity. A broader rulemaking under the banner of crypto asset transactions and markets could pull some of that work into a more durable framework.

For exchanges, brokers and derivatives venues, the details will matter far more than the headline.

Questions around margin, eligible participants, exchange registration, clearing and the treatment of leveraged retail products could all determine whether more crypto derivatives activity can move into regulated U.S. venues.

For now, though, the market is waiting on the actual proposal.

OIRA review is a procedural step, but it is a meaningful one: it tells us the CFTC has moved beyond informal discussion and has a regulatory package far enough along to send into the White House review process.

Source: U.S. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs — https://www.reginfo.gov/public/Forward?Image61.x=0&Image61.y=0&SearchTarget=RegReview&textfield=3038

This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.

This report is based on information released by Reginfo. at Reginfo

from NewsBTC https://ift.tt/yUWb4wA

From Information to Action: MEXC Upgrades AI Across the Trading Journey

Mutsamudu, Comoros, September 17, 2026 – MEXC, a pioneer in 0-fee digital asset trading, has announced a major upgrade to MEXC AI under its philosophy of “Intelligence for Every Opportunity.” With enhanced AI Assistant and AI Radar capabilities, MEXC AI is evolving from an information-focused assistant toward a more connected trading experience spanning opportunity discovery, market analysis, strategy generation and execution.

 

From Information to Action

In a 24/7 market, traders have access to more information than ever, but turning that information into action often requires moving between different tools for research, analysis and execution.

MEXC AI is designed to shorten this distance. By bringing market intelligence, conversational interaction, strategy generation and user-confirmed execution into the trading environment, MEXC aims to make AI part of the trading journey itself rather than a standalone information tool.

 

A More Intuitive AI Trading Experience

At the center of the upgrade are AI Assistant and AI Radar.

AI Assistant, MEXC AI’s core conversational interface, draws on real-time market data, positions and trading activity on MEXC to provide more context-aware interactions. The upgrade introduces a redesigned half-screen interface with conversation history, scenario-aware responses, and an adaptive conversational experience aligned with different market contexts.

AI Radar focuses on market intelligence and opportunity discovery. New features include AI Visual, which transforms complex financial news into more intuitive visual content; AI Video Brief, an AI-hosted daily recap of key global market developments; and Trending Stock Insights, which brings together trending U.S. stocks, market activity and key events.

Together, AI Radar and AI Assistant help users move more efficiently from discovering what is happening to understanding what it means in their own trading context.

 

MEXC AI: From Discovery to Execution

Beyond the latest upgrade, MEXC AI is building a more connected journey across Discover, Understand and Trade.

Existing capabilities including AI Rankings, AI Trends and Smart Chart support market discovery and analysis, while AI Strategy allows users to translate natural-language trading ideas into strategies that can run automatically after users review and confirm the parameters. AI Model Copy Trade provides another way to access selected trading strategies and activity.

MEXC will introduce a new command-line trading interface designed to support AI Agent use cases. Within user-authorized permissions, compatible AI agents will be able to interact with MEXC capabilities, extending MEXC AI from information and analysis toward more flexible, agent-driven trading workflows.

“The next phase of AI in trading is not about giving users more answers. It is about reducing the distance between trading intent and execution while keeping users in control,” said Vugar Usi, CEO of MEXC. “MEXC AI is designed to connect opportunity discovery, analysis, strategy generation and user-confirmed execution within the trading environment. Our goal is not to remove the trader from the decision, but to make intelligence available at every step of the trading journey.”

This evolution reflects MEXC’s broader Trading Companion vision, which aims to make AI a more continuous part of the trading journey. It helps users discover opportunities, understand market movements and move from insight toward action more efficiently. To bring this vision to life, MEXC is launching Trading Takes Two, a month-long campaign that will showcase how MEXC AI supports users across different stages of the trading journey, under the philosophy of “Intelligence for Every Opportunity.”

For more information and to experience MEXC AI’s capabilities, please visit the MEXC AI page.

 

About MEXC

Founded in 2018, MEXC is a leading global multi-asset trading platform built as your 0-fee gateway to infinite opportunities. Serving users across 170+ markets, MEXC provides simple and efficient access to crypto, stocks, tokenized assets, derivatives, and a growing range of TradFi-linked opportunities through one account and one gateway.

With 0 trading fees, deep liquidity, broad asset coverage, and a high-performance trading experience, MEXC is designed for retail users who want to discover earlier, act faster, and trade with fewer barriers. As crypto and traditional finance continue to converge, MEXC is committed to making global opportunities more accessible, helping users trade freely and MEXCmize every opportunity.

 

MEXC Official Website｜ X ｜ Telegram ｜How to Sign Up on MEXC

For media inquiries, please contact MEXC PR team: media@mexc.com

 

Risk Disclaimer:

This content does not constitute investment advice. Given the volatility of financial markets, including digital assets, tokenized assets, and traditional financial products, investors should carefully assess market conditions, underlying asset fundamentals, and potential financial risks before making any investment or trading decisions.

 

Source

from NewsBTC https://ift.tt/HAWeZou