October 15 brought announcements spanning crypto market such as XRP Ledger payments, Bitcoin mining, Ethereum staking and institutional trading. Today’s roundup covers eight updates announced on the day, including developments involving BTC, ETH, SOL and Ripple’s ecosystem.
Cross River Gives Fintech Clients an RLUSD Payment Option
Cross River’s fintech customers can now use RLUSD for international transfers and settlement at any hour, alongside conventional banking services. Announced on October 15, the arrangement with Ripple brings these payment options together through one API, with stablecoin transactions processed over the XRP Ledger. Access remains limited to selected U.S. states.
Ripple Prime Adds Institutional Trading Across More Than 100 Markets
Ripple announced that institutional clients can now trade real-world asset perpetual swaps through Ripple Prime, covering more than 100 reference markets across stocks, indices, ETFs, commodities and currencies. The swaps reference Trade.xyz perpetual futures on Hyperliquid and support trading and settlement throughout the week, including weekends. Clients can also use RLUSD as collateral, subject to availability in their jurisdiction.
BitFuFu Launches Tokenized Bitcoin Mining Product
BitFuFu and Finloop announced HASH, a tokenized note giving eligible investors exposure to the financial output of Bitcoin mining. Returns are denominated in BTC, allowing investors to participate without operating mining equipment themselves. Finloop supplies the tokenization infrastructure, while profit distributions are recorded on-chain.
Lido Adds Direct ETH Staking From Four Layer 2 Networks
Lido announced that its staking interface now supports ETH held on Arbitrum, Base, Linea and Optimism. The feature uses Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol to handle transfers behind the scenes, removing the need for users to bridge funds manually to Ethereum and back. Users receive wrapped staked ETH, or wstETH, on their starting network.
KR1 Targets 6,000 ETH Through Its Own Staking Setup
P2P.org will handle KR1’s validator operations, while the London-listed company keeps authority over deposits and withdrawals. The October 15 rollout places an initial 10 validators in a separate Lido stVault, with plans to stake as much as 6,000 ETH in the near term as Ethereum’s entry queue permits. KR1 can also obtain liquidity by minting stETH against the ETH committed to its vault.
Solana Treasury Firm Raises CHAD’s Planned Dividend Rate to 14%
DeFi Development Corp. announced that the annual dividend rate on its CHAD preferred stock will increase from 13% to 14%. Based on the security’s $10 stated amount, annual dividends would rise from $1.30 to $1.40 per share, with business-day payments subject to board declarations. The company said proceeds from future CHAD issuance would support expansion of its SOL treasury.
Starknet Opens Vote on Exploring an Independent Blockchain
Starknet opened a seven day, non-binding poll asking STRK holders whether research should proceed into becoming an independent, quantum-resistant Layer 1 blockchain. A positive result would trigger further research and proposals rather than authorize an immediate departure from Ethereum. The proposal states that STRK would remain the network’s token and that bridges with Ethereum would stay open.
Australia’s ASIC Proposes Standards for Digital Asset Platforms
Australia’s securities regulator released a consultation on implementing the country’s digital asset framework. Its proposals cover asset custody, transaction and settlement standards, and financial requirements for digital asset and tokenized custody platforms. Feedback is due by November 27, 2026, and the proposed standards remain subject to revision.