Binance helps Trump make billions, Tether and Coinbase post profits | Weekly Recap

In this edition of the weekly recap, the Trump family’s crypto venture, World Liberty Financial (WLFI), begins spot trading on Binance.

Plus, the imprisoned founder of the collapsed exchange Thodex died, crypto bank Custodia lost its multi-year battle for Federal Reserve access, and Tether posts quarterly profits.

Binance, Trump family

• Binance US, on Oct. 29, allowed the Trump family’s WLFI to begin spot trading.
• The news comes as Binance continues to help the Trump family’s cryptocurrency venture earn billions. President Trump, for his part, pardoned Binance co-founder and former CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, who had pleaded guilty in 2023 to money-laundering violations.
• Zhao served four months in prison as part of a $4.3 billion settlement with the Justice Department. After Trump’s election victory, Binance created a task force to pursue a partnership with the Trump family’s crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, in hopes of securing clemency for Zhao, the Wall Street Journal reported. Binance’s support helped boost WLFI’s stablecoin, driving its market cap from $127 million to more than $2.1 billion.

Thodex CEO dies

• Faruk Fatih Ozer, who established cryptocurrency exchange Thodex in 2017 and served as CEO until its April 2021 collapse, died in Turkish custody.
• He was serving an 11,196-year sentence, according to local media.
• An Istanbul court convicted Ozer alongside his siblings in September 2023 for aggravated fraud and money laundering.

Appeals court denies Custodia Fed access

• The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against crypto bank Custodia’s years-long effort to obtain a master account with the Federal Reserve’s payment system.
• The decision affirms a lower court’s ruling last year, preventing the Wyoming special-purpose depository institution from compelling the central bank to grant master account access.

Tether’s quarterly profits match banking giants

• The world’s leading stablecoin issuer disclosed $10 billion in profits for 2025’s first three quarters on Friday.
• USDT issuer’s reported net income exceeds Bank of America’s $8.9 billion three-quarter profit and nearly doubles U.S. Bank’s $5.5 billion earnings for the same period.

Bankman-Fried claims FTX was never insolvent

• The convicted founder asserted in a newly uploaded September 30 statement that Alameda Research and FTX maintained solvency and could have repaid customers shortly after the 2022 liquidity crisis.
• The 15-page document claims FTX entered November 2022 with $25 billion in assets and an equity value of $16 billion, exceeding the $8 billion in customer withdrawal requests.

Coinbase surpasses revenue expectations

• The exchange reported $1.9 billion in third-quarter revenue Thursday, representing 26% quarter-over-quarter growth.
• Earnings per share reached $1.50, surpassing analysts’ $1.10 expectations, while revenue showed 50% annual growth from the previous year.

World and Mythical Games partner on ID verification

• High-profile web3 projects World and Mythical Games are integrating to distinguish human gamers from automated bots through “proof of human” identity technology.
• Mythical will bring its player base to the World network while implementing World’s ID technology for gamers accessing titles including “NFL Rivals,” “FIFA Rivals,” and “Pudgy Party.”

SpaceX continues Bitcoin portfolio adjustments

• Elon Musk’s aerospace company executed another Bitcoin (BTC) transfer, moving 281 BTC (over $31 million) from Coinbase Prime custody to a fresh wallet.

Mastercard pursues Zerohash acquisition

• The credit card giant is reportedly in advanced discussions to purchase stablecoin infrastructure firm Zerohash for between $1.5 and $2 billion.

Ethereum completes final Fusaka testing

• The blockchain’s upgrade underwent a final dress rehearsal on the Hoodi testnet around 18:53 UTC.
• This is the third successful testnet simulation following earlier Holesky and Sepolia network upgrades.

Western Union plans stablecoin launch

• The legacy payments giant will introduce a stablecoin following third-quarter results showing surging digital wallet adoption.
• CEO Devin McGranahan revealed Monday that digital wallets and account-based payouts now account for over 50% of Western Union’s digital transactions, while hinting at “digital asset-enabled solutions.”

Kalshi sues New York gaming regulators

• The event-contract platform filed a federal lawsuit Monday seeking to block the state gaming commission from treating sports prediction markets as illegal gambling.
• The Manhattan-based company argues federal law preempts state gambling regulations for contracts traded on CFTC-overseen platforms.

Mt. Gox extends repayment deadline

• Court-appointed rehabilitation trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi postponed creditor repayments until Oct. 31, 2026.
• The Tokyo court formally approved the extension, addressing procedural complications that had prevented the distribution to the defunct exchange’s creditors.

Indian court protects XRP holder from WazirX reallocation

• The Madras High Court granted “interim protection” preventing the exchange from redistributing a customer’s 3,532 XRP (XRP) holdings ($9,400) to absorb losses from July 2024’s $230 million exploit.
• Justice N. Anand Venkatesh’s order bars WazirX from reallocating the user’s assets as part of broader loss-sharing arrangements among platform users.

Strategy maintains Bitcoin acquisition pace

• The corporate holder purchased 390 BTC for approximately $43.4 million at roughly $111,053 per Bitcoin.
• Total holdings reached 640,808 Bitcoin acquired for approximately $47.44 billion at an average price of $74,032 per coin.