Crypto News - 23 October 2026 The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued final regulations on October 21 implementing the GENIUS Act for payment stablecoins under its supervision. The rules cover reserve backing, redemptions, custody, risk management, audits and the approval process for eligible issuers, including banks and certain nonbank firms. They take effect on January 18, 2027, alongside the law itself. Separate rulemaking will address anti-money-laundering and sanctions requirements, so implementation work is not yet complete. For banks, payment companies and consumers, the decision provides a clearer federal framework for issuing and using regulated dollar-backed tokens. Crypto Sentiment Falls Back to Neutral as ETF Flows Reverse Crypto market sentiment cooled sharply this week, with Alternative.me's Fear & Greed Index falling to 50, or Neutral, on October 23, compared with 68 a day earlier, 63 a week earlier and 71 a month earlier. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted more than $1.07 billion from Monday through Wednesday, helped by strong buying in BlackRock's IBIT. That momentum reversed Thursday, when the funds recorded $635.6 million in net withdrawals, led by IBIT and Fidelity's FBTC. The four-day balance remained positive at $439.1 million, but the reversal highlighted uncertain investor appetite. The sentiment reading reflects a more cautious market mood. Banks Expand Stablecoin Payments Across Asia Asia's regulated digital-money push gained momentum on October 23 as HSBC launched RedCoin, a Hong Kong dollar stablecoin for its PayMe payments platform. Users are expected to gain in-app stablecoin wallets in the coming days, enabling person-to-person transfers and payments across PayMe's merchant network. Separately, Singapore's central bank announced that Malaysia and Thailand's central banks had joined its BLOOM initiative to explore cross-border settlement using regulated stablecoins and tokenized deposits. The expanded project includes Ripple, Visa, Mastercard and financial institutions. Together, the announcements show banks and payment networks exploring digital money for everyday commerce and international transfers. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs opened Monday with $526.7 million in net inflows, driven by $665.2 million entering BlackRock's IBIT, despite outflows from Fidelity's FBTC ($83.6 million) and Grayscale's GBTC ($54.9 million). Tuesday saw inflows slow to $23.2 million, led by IBIT ($29.9 million), while Bitwise's BITB recorded $10.3 million in outflows. Wednesday brought another strong session with $524.8 million in net inflows, supported by IBIT ($235.0 million), FBTC ($212.7 million) and GBTC ($32.6 million). Thursday reversed the trend sharply with $635.6 million in net outflows, driven by IBIT ($254.1 million), FBTC ($217.5 million) and ARKB ($109.4 million). Overall, Bitcoin ETFs recorded approximately $439.1 million in net inflows from Monday through Thursday, despite substantial selling pressure late in the week. Friday's figures remain incomplete and are awaiting final issuer reporting, including IBIT. U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs opened Monday with $103.3 million in net outflows, led by BlackRock's ETHA ($95.4 million), Fidelity's FETH ($6.0 million) and ETHIE ($1.9 million). Tuesday extended the decline with another $26.1 million in net outflows, as ETHA shed $33.0 million, partly offset by inflows into FETH ($3.6 million) and Grayscale's ETH fund ($3.3 million). Wednesday brought a brief reversal with $14.9 million in net inflows, supported by Grayscale's ETH fund ($28.1 million) and FETH ($13.0 million), despite $29.3 million leaving ETHA. Thursday saw renewed selling pressure with $110.6 million in net outflows, driven by ETHA ($75.5 million), ETHB ($17.2 million), Grayscale's ETH fund ($10.7 million) and ETHIE ($9.6 million). Overall, Ethereum ETFs recorded approximately $225.1 million in net outflows from Monday through Thursday, reflecting persistent institutional selling pressure despite Wednesday's modest recovery. Friday's figures remain incomplete and are awaiting final issuer reporting, including ETHA. Metal DAO (MTL) led the 13 tracked cryptocurrencies this week with a 3.0% seven-day gain, outperforming a broadly weaker market. XRP followed with a 0.7% increase, while Solana managed a modest 0.4% advance, making these the only three tokens in positive territory. Bitcoin (-0.2%) and Ethereum (-0.4%) held relatively steady, while Dogecoin (-1.1%), Stellar (-2.4%) and Litecoin (-2.6%) posted moderate declines. Losses were more pronounced among smaller tokens, including Metal Blockchain (-6.4%), XPR Network (-13.4%) and LOAN Protocol (-14.4%). The results highlight selective resilience as broader crypto market sentiment weakened.