Strive CEO Hints at BTC Purchase as Ledger Phishing Sites Surge in Google Search

Author: Shenchao TechFlow

Strive CEO to release BTC Tracker information, with BTC holding changes data potentially announced next week

Matt Cole, CEO of Bitcoin treasury company Strive, posted: "Think ₿igger," potentially hinting that the company will again increase its Bitcoin holdings next week.

Ansem: Recognizing opportunities early is just as important as knowing when to take profits.

Crypto trader Ansem (@blknoiz06) shared insights on trading, stating that it’s pointless to capture rotation opportunities only to give back all the profits. He noted that in 2017, he made significant gains from altcoin trading but lost much of it due to failing to take profits in time. By the 2020–2021 cycle, he had improved at identifying narrative trends early and rotating capital among assets like SOL, LUNA, and AVAX to compound gains. Ansem emphasized that recognizing opportunities early and knowing when to take profits are two equally critical skills in crypto trading.

Analyst: The Ledger attackers have transferred 2,990 ETH to Tornado Cash.

On-chain detective Specter posted on their personal channel that between October 9 and 10, the attacker addresses linked to the CryptoBilis Ledger hardware wallet incident deposited 2,990.3 ETH—valued at approximately $7.45 million—into Tornado Cash. Monitoring shows that the attacker previously withdrew funds to 14 addresses, then cross-chain transferred them to ZEC via NEAR Intents and performed privacy-enhancing operations. Specter noted that the attacker reused some previous deposit addresses to submit withdrawal transactions, while other withdrawal transactions were initiated by wallets associated with the addresses that paid the gas fees during the initial theft, thereby linking the deposited funds to the withdrawal activities. The attacker continues to move and obscure the related funds. The CryptoBilis incident involved supply chain risks with Ledger hardware wallets; Ledger has stated it is investigating and has advised affected users to monitor their device security.

One year since the crash on 1011: BTC has declined approximately 34% from its peak at that time, while ETH has nearly halved.

On-chain data shows that on this day last year, the crypto market suffered an epic collapse, with approximately $19.2 billion in liquidations across the network in a single day, affecting over 1.65 million investors and setting the record for the most devastating single-day清算 in history, comparable to the 2020 "3/12" black swan event.

For Bitcoin, the prior high was approximately $125,000, with the day’s low touching $102,000, resulting in a single-day decline of over 13%. Ethereum fell 22% in a single day, while SOL dropped a steep 37%. A year later today, BTC is trading at approximately $82,679, representing a cumulative drawdown of about 34% from that prior high.

In terms of total market capitalization, the peak in October 2025 reached approximately $3 trillion (with the non-BTC market cap hitting a historic high of $1.77 trillion on October 7). The current global crypto market cap stands at around $2.81 trillion, with a 24-hour trading volume of approximately $43.3 billion—slightly below the peak but maintaining overall resilience.

Trader Rune: The PaperTrade official documentation mentions the risk of BBO price manipulation, raising concerns about the pricing mechanism.

Crypto trader Rune on X disclosed that the pricing mechanism in PaperTrade's official documentation already reveals a potential "attack" risk, highlighting that the primary protocol-level vulnerability lies in price manipulation via Hyperliquid's order book BBO (Best Bid and Offer). This risk involves unresolved price manipulation pathways, contract economic mechanisms and exposure controls, as well as operational safeguards and permission management systems.

Rune shared a tweet from community user boblob revealing that two wallets allegedly engaged in active exploitation on the PaperTrade platform, causing a minor price fluctuation (approximately 10–20 basis points) in ETH on the Hyperliquid platform through trades totaling around $20 million, while simultaneously establishing a nine-figure long position on PaperTrade. Boblob further noted that significant issues currently present in the PaperTrade protocol require urgent resolution, as failure to address them could impact the protocol’s long-term sustainability.

Fake Ledger websites rank highly on Google searches; users should be cautious of mnemonic phrase phishing risks.

According to Bitcoin News, security researchers have identified fake websites and applications impersonating the hardware wallet brand Ledger that now appear at the top of Google search results. These phishing sites aim to trick users into entering their 24-word recovery phrases. Data shows that these counterfeit pages have received over one million visits in the past 30 days.

A survey released by cybersecurity firm Zscaler in September found that malicious Google ads were impersonating Ledger’s official pages, redirecting users to fake wallet verification sites. Meanwhile, Ledger is currently investigating a wallet theft incident involving an estimated $86 million in assets, affecting customers of Southeast Asian distributor CryptoBilis. Security experts advise never entering your hardware wallet’s recovery seed phrase on any website.

Relay will shut down Relay Vaults, and the withdrawal page will be closed on December 31.

The cross-chain protocol Relay has announced on Twitter that it will be shutting down Relay Vaults. Users holding funds must withdraw via the official portal, which will close on December 31, 2026; after this date, users can still withdraw directly from the contract.

The official statement indicates that Vaults, an optional product for users to provide liquidity, has been taken offline ahead of an improved version that will be launched soon; related details will be disclosed in the future. Swap, payments, and other integrations remain unaffected and continue to operate as usual.

CZ: I personally don't oppose hardware wallets—different wallet products are suited for different use cases.

CZ posted that users should prioritize asset security (Stay SAFU out there) and clarified that he does not oppose hardware wallets or self-custody. He added that different wallets and products are suited for different use cases, each with distinct security implications and best practices, and disclosed that YZi Labs has invested in hardware wallet projects such as OneKey and SafePal, as well as mobile wallet products like Trust Wallet.

On-chain detective Specter questions Serpin's TGE performance and refund plan.

According to Specter, it has publicly raised questions about Serpin’s recent TGE and subsequent actions. Specter noted that Serpin previously claimed it would not issue tokens, yet ultimately proceeded with an ICO and delayed the TGE until recently; however, after the token’s launch, the team has shown little active engagement.

Additionally, at launch, the token had extremely low liquidity and was listed exclusively on Coinbase, failing to expand liquidity across other platforms for trading. Regarding the refund issue, Specter questioned why participants must undergo a lengthy verification process to recover only 85% of their funds, and called for full refunds to participants given that the TGE fell short of expectations due to the team’s own decision-making errors.

Project Research: After Citrini highlighted $DRV, its price has risen steadily—now that it’s the leading on-chain options protocol, is it overvalued?

https://www.techflowpost.com/article/34480

DRV surged after Citrini Research listed it as a top holding, but its current valuation is no longer cheap: DRV has risen approximately 260% over the past month; Derive accounted for about 91.7% of on-chain options premium volume in September, with a net protocol income of approximately $574,900 over the last 30 days, translating to an annualized revenue multiple of roughly 79.5x. The market is betting that on-chain options will capture market share from centralized exchanges, and the buyback ratio increasing from 35% to 50% on October 14 provides additional buying support. However, the actual purchasing power of buybacks may be affected by rising token prices; future performance will depend on whether revenue continues to grow after V3 launches and on the progress of competitor Lighter. Key takeaway: DRV’s growth story offers significant upside potential, but buying now is primarily a bet on future potential rather than current earnings.

Three years of profits hinge on 15 days: Current market analysis and position-building guide for the crypto market

https://www.techflowpost.com/article/34475

The current crypto market is characterized by “calm in normal times, with extreme moves determining returns”: in 2026, BTC’s annualized volatility declined to approximately 46%, yet there have already been 10 extreme events exceeding three standard deviations within the year. Over the past three years, BTC has risen cumulatively by about 225%, but gains have been highly concentrated in just a few trading days. The article recommends a “barbell strategy”: hold a core position in BTC spot to avoid missing surges through frequent market timing; for altcoins, enter and exit quickly in response to BTC’s extreme movements, prioritizing projects with real business fundamentals and buyback support. The core insight is that opportunities still exist—just with narrower and less predictable windows for profit.

Pearl: The most frequently mentioned "AI version of Bitcoin" at Token2049

https://www.techflowpost.com/article/34466

Pearl aims to be the "AI version of Bitcoin," but its useful compute narrative still has critical gaps: Pearl mines using GPU matrix multiplication, attempting to combine AI inference with token rewards, and has attracted market attention with a fair launch featuring no pre-mine and no VC investment, currently holding an FDV of approximately $2.8 billion. However, the existing protocol cannot verify whether miners are genuinely performing AI inference—44 randomly submitted matrix samples were all accepted; its partnership with Together AI has also been questioned as resembling token subsidies rather than genuine compute transactions. The key question is whether AI inference can truly be integrated with mining, and whether PRL can move beyond narrative hype to generate real demand.

Podcast Notes | Tom Lee: Ethereum Could Reach $50,000 in This Cycle; Tokenization Is a Disruptive Force for Wall Street

https://www.techflowpost.com/article/34463

Tom Lee, co-founder of Fundstrat, is extremely bullish on Ethereum and asset tokenization: he believes ETH could reach $25,000 to $50,000 in this cycle, potentially surpassing $5,000 by year-end; tokenization targets the vast traditional financial markets, where assets such as stocks and private equity may soon be fragmented and migrated onto the blockchain. Meanwhile, he views the current stage of AI development as analogous to the internet in 1997, with years still remaining before reaching a potential bubble peak. His core thesis is that institutional capital and genuine financial innovation are driving a new crypto cycle, with ETH poised to become a critical infrastructure for future financial settlement.