HEX erases $246 million in market cap after founder detained in Turkey

HEX’s market capitalization fell from $561 million to $315 million this week after founder Richard Schueler — better known in the crypto community as Richard Heart — was detained by authorities in Istanbul on October 14. Cointelegraph previously reported on the Interpol notice involving Heart. The market-capitalization change provides a measure of how the market valued HEX after the detention, but it does not by itself establish the cause of the move.

Police seized $7.15 million in cash, firearms and ammunition during an early-morning raid in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district and searched 15 related addresses, according to Turkish Justice Minister Akın Gürlek. Turkish media reported on the Istanbul detention and searches.

Police also impounded nine luxury vehicles registered to Schueler’s wife, according to the news agency Anadolu. The haul reportedly included 28 watches, 300 bags and 19 graphics cards. A second Turkish report described the vehicle seizure.

Interpol issued a “Red Notice” for Schueler two years ago over allegations of tax fraud and assault after Finnish authorities sought his arrest. A spokesperson for Finland’s National Bureau of Investigations declined to comment on the matter.

Turkish media refer to Schueler as “Whale James” and have linked him to a $1 billion unregistered securities offering in the United States. A US judge dismissed that case in February 2025.

Images circulating in Turkish media appear to show a surprised Heart without trousers, with the lower half of his body blurred. The images prompted widespread amusement on social media. Eric Wall, a vocal HEX critic who has debated Schueler in videos and on social media, said he initially believed the image was AI-generated but now thinks it is genuine. Wall discussed the image on X. Cointelegraph can verify only that the image is circulating, not that it has not been altered. Other related posts circulated on X. A further post is available here.

“i’m pretty much certain i died in a plane crash in 2015 and ever since that day i am still only alive in a fringe reality where everything is designed to be as funny as possible.”

HEX supporters said authorities had not yet confirmed whether Schueler had been formally arrested or charged.

Ledger’s answer to wallet tampering costs $849 and ships next year

Ledger unveiled a new device on Thursday with enhanced tamper protections, days after confirming that wallets sold through an Asian reseller contained malicious implants. Cointelegraph reported on the new Ledger device.

The French hardware-wallet maker introduced Atom, an $849 device that combines a crypto wallet with everyday applications in a smartphone-like design. Atom separates Android applications from sensitive wallet operations and includes protections that Ledger says would block the implants used in the recent Asia incident. The company says the device can detect tampering even when it is switched off. The reported incident and the company’s response put both the device’s technical protections and the security of its reseller network in focus.

Atom is expected to become available in summer 2027. It will also support AI-agent approvals, encrypted messaging and post-quantum cryptography.

A dispute has meanwhile developed between former Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpeles and Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier. Karpeles claims that at least two people notified Ledger about spyware discovered inside tampered Ledger devices as early as December 2025. He also noted that the company had written about the issue on its website in March 2026. Karpeles’ account of the warnings was reported by Cointelegraph.

Karpeles said Ledger failed to secure its reseller supply chain properly. The company’s reseller operations across Asia have since been suspended after more than $90 million was stolen.

Gauthier responded on X that Karpeles was “no white knight” and referred to his failures before the Mt. Gox hack. Karpeles replied: “I was hoping you guys were better than that. I’ve been holding Ledger at a higher standard than what happened at MtGox, because I trusted you to do better by learning of my failure — to be better than me.” The exchange was posted on X.

QDay gets closer as Starknet votes on becoming a post-quantum L1

Google demonstrated a process called “magic state cultivation” on its Willow quantum processor that reduces errors 40-fold. The technique achieved a record 99.99% accuracy rate for a specialized quantum state required for advanced calculations. A report on Google’s demonstration is available here.

Theta Labs has also published three new quantum circuits that could reduce by 28% the number of qubits required to break elliptic-curve cryptography, compared with Google’s current estimate of 1,175 logical qubits. The research was discussed on X.

Amid concerns that advances in AI could eventually allow elliptic-curve cryptography to be broken before “QDay,” Starknet opened a vote on transforming itself from an Ethereum layer-2 network into a post-quantum layer-1 blockchain. StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson said Ethereum’s post-quantum roadmap may be too slow to address the challenge posed by AI, meaning Starknet needed to consider becoming a fully post-quantum L1. Cointelegraph reported on the vote.

“Quantum-proofing crypto is urgent, so we must move at lightning speed,” Ben-Sasson told Cointelegraph. He also commented on the proposal on X. More than 99% of votes cast to date support the move. Starknet’s token has lost almost 50% in value this week after a significant rise last week.

Standard Chartered delays $2 trillion stablecoin forecast to 2030 as EU embraces USDC

Standard Chartered said stablecoin transaction activity continues to grow even though the market’s overall value has stalled. The pattern suggests existing stablecoins are circulating more frequently rather than growth being driven by new supply. In other words, market capitalization and transaction activity are measuring different aspects of the market: the former tracks value outstanding, while the latter reflects how often those tokens are used.

The bank now expects stablecoin market capitalization to reach $2 trillion by 2030, two years later than it initially projected. The change follows a plateau in the market at roughly $309 billion this year. Cointelegraph reported on Standard Chartered’s revised forecast.

The European Banking Authority has meanwhile classified Circle’s USDC stablecoin as a significant e-money token under the region’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework. The classification has been granted to only 45 projects. The EBA’s USDC classification was also reported by Cointelegraph.

Binance.US seeks $1 billion valuation in potential $100 million funding round

Binance.US is reportedly seeking to raise as much as $100 million in a funding round that could value the cryptocurrency exchange at $1 billion. According to a Thursday report by Bloomberg, the US-based exchange is pursuing private investment as it seeks to expand its business. Bloomberg’s report is available here.

The potential $1 billion valuation would be substantially below the $4.5 billion pre-money valuation Binance.US secured in 2022, when it raised $200 million in seed funding. Cointelegraph also reported on the potential funding round.

Winners and losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) was down 3.8% at $81,484, Ethereum (ETH) had declined 5.7% to $2,386, and XRP (XRP) was down 8.3% at $1.28. Total cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at $2.72 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the 100 largest cryptocurrencies, the three biggest altcoin gainers for the week were Monero (XMR), up 9.7%; Injective (INJ), up 5.6%; and Celestia (TIA), up 5.1%.

The three biggest altcoin decliners were Starknet (STRK), down 46.7%; Pump.fun (PUMP), down 27.1%; and Raydium (RAY), down 26.5%.

Prediction of the week

Bitwise’s Hougan says Q3 charts point to “crypto spring”

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan said the third quarter may have been “one of the best quarters in crypto’s history,” arguing that a sharp rebound in cryptocurrency prices and growth in onchain markets point to the beginning of “crypto spring.”

In its quarterly market review published Thursday, Bitwise reported a 46.4% quarterly gain in its large-cap crypto index. It also reported $6 billion in US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund inflows, which brought year-to-date net flows back into positive territory. Bitwise published the market review here. Cointelegraph covered Hougan’s comments here.

“Page after page after page, it’s all the same: The most recent part of the chart is turning sharply upwards,” Hougan wrote. “That’s exactly what you want to see if you’re looking for the start of a crypto spring.”

Top FUD of the week

MSCI adopts index exclusion rules that could oust Strategy

Index provider MSCI adopted new rules that could result in Strategy, Metaplanet and Upexi being removed from its global indexes. Several other cryptocurrency treasury companies could also face exclusion. Cointelegraph reported on the rule changes.

In August, Strategy opposed the changes but downplayed their potential disruption. The company said funds tracking MSCI’s Global Investable Market Indexes held approximately 13 million shares, representing 3.1% of its basic shares outstanding. Strategy said those holdings amounted to less than one day’s trading volume. Strategy’s statement is available here.

Russia to ban direct peer-to-peer crypto trades starting July 2027

Russia will ban direct peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency transactions between individuals starting next year and will require people to use authorized intermediaries for such trades. The regulator said the ban would take effect on July 1, 2027. Cointelegraph reported on the planned restrictions.

The regulator also clarified that individuals are not permitted to transfer crypto assets from their digital accounts to their own noncustodial, or self-custodial, wallets.

Ex-Trump crypto adviser profited after helping pass stablecoin bill: WSJ

Bo Hines, a former crypto adviser to US President Donald Trump who later joined stablecoin issuer Tether, reportedly retained a stake in a company that profited from the passage of a stablecoin bill while he was still at the White House.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Hines held a one-third stake in Nxum, the investment company he co-founded, while pushing US lawmakers to pass the GENIUS Act. Nxum reportedly received $6.3 million as part of a deal with Tether, with the first payment made while Hines was still serving in government. Cointelegraph reported on the allegations. The Wall Street Journal’s report is available here.

Original Cointelegraph article