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Your morning Bitcoin brief: Ledger confirms seed-stealing implants in some devices sold via CryptoBilis, FINMA approves Switzerland’s first retail bitcoin ETF, Lightning Labs’ Layertree paper on millions sharing one output and other bitcoin news
As of Oct 21, 2026, 5:03 AM EDT
MARKET
Price $83,186 (+2.16%)
24h volume $27.4 bn
Dominance 59.6%
Sats / $ 1,202
NETWORK
Block #972,447
Hashrate 1,040 EH/s
Difficulty +5.35%
Retarget 8 days
Halving 539 days (63.1%)
MEMPOOL
Fee 1 sat/vB
TX 43,210
Size 24.3 MB
Queue 25 blocks
LIGHTNING
Capacity 4,451 BTC
Channels 39,627The implant read recovery words off the screen at setup; devices could pass Ledger’s genuine check. Ledger ties all confirmed losses to CryptoBilis; buyers who set one up should move funds to a new device and seed. MediaMarkt Saturn halted Ledger sales after a German buyer reported an implant. blog.casa.io docs.casa.io
@Liquid_BTC says user swaps are back via semi-automated swaps for Federation members; normal peg and balance validation will return soon. @AquaBitcoin reports 1:1 peg-ins and peg-outs via @side_swap, while Lightning-to-Liquid swaps are still recovering. bitcoinmagazine.com x.com
ACINQ highly recommends upgrading, as some of the fixed issues can be exploited by malicious nodes. The patch release is fully compatible with earlier versions: stop Eclair, upgrade and restart, with no need to close channels. github.com
A fake security warning delivered through a trusted notification system sent users to the thieves; the hardware itself was not cracked. news.bitcoin.com
The Swiss regulator cited growing appetite for crypto investments and said multiple fund providers have submitted Bitcoin ETF applications. cointelegraph.com
Deka’s launch brings trading to participating savings banks, with a €0.99 order fee plus a spread and restricted transfers. cryptoslate.com
SATS, Strive’s second preferred stock offering, debuted on the Nasdaq on Tuesday. bitcoinmagazine.com
SpaceX reported $14.6 billion in revenue, $4.4 billion in net income and $8.8 billion in adjusted EBITDA, plus $1.573 billion in digital assets, consistent with its previously disclosed bitcoin holdings. news.bitcoin.com
According to @LightningNewsX, CTO Olaoluwa Osuntokun’s 103-page paper tracks funds in an off-chain Merkle-sum tree; in the design, anyone can exit alone in one transaction and the operator cannot block it. It needs Bitcoin opcodes that are proposed but not yet activated. x.com x.com
@voltage_cloud calls @WhiteBit a top-20 exchange. x.com voltage.cloud
SHRINCS keeps a larger signing path for recovery, while its compact signatures require reliable counters and tighter custody coordination, CryptoSlate reports. cryptoslate.com
The non-Turing-complete rules let node runners quarantine chosen transaction shapes from relay or block templates without affecting consensus; filters that may match protocol transactions such as Lightning channel closures are refused by default. delvingbitcoin.org github.com
A new report highlights difficulties UK customers have faced with specific banks, as evidence of banks restricting services for crypto asset users mounts. news.bitcoin.com
NIP Group, the publicly traded parent of the esports organization, is making another major hardware acquisition as it expands its bitcoin mining operation. news.bitcoin.com
Strong US corporate earnings lifted stock markets, and BTC hit $83,300 before reversing at a 21-day trend line. cointelegraph.com
Hedge funds cut technology positions at the fastest pace since at least 2016 in the five sessions through Oct. 15, according to a report citing Goldman Sachs prime brokerage data. cryptoslate.com
On October 21, 2011, The Economist magazine published an article titled "Bitcoin Bubble Bursts".
1 BTC = $2
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