
Inside SBF’s long-shot SCOTUS appeal and $11B forfeiture.	͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏	View in browser

October 14, 2026

Your Daily Digest of the 🔥Hottest News in Crypto.

Today’s top stories

🇪🇺 Saldo Bank acquisition to extend Payward Banking into four EU markets
⚖️ Former FTX CEO argues $11B forfeiture violates Eighth Amendment
🔐 Ledger asks resellers to halt sales in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong
📰 Keep reading for all of today’s biggest headlines

Kraken parent to buy Lithuanian Saldo Bank amid TradFi expansion

Kraken parent Payward has agreed to acquire Lithuania-based Saldo Bank as part of its expansion into traditional financial services. The deal, expected to close in 2027 pending regulatory approvals, would give Payward an EU banking license and access to markets including Lithuania, Finland, Sweden, and Germany, with passporting into the Netherlands. Payward Banking plans to offer traditional services such as deposit interest, lending, and banking-as-a-service for SMEs, advancing its strategy to serve European clients as a primary financial institution.

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Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyer lays out ex-FTX CEO’s Supreme Court case

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, convicted on seven fraud counts and sentenced to 25 years plus an $11 billion forfeiture, is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review his case while also seeking a presidential pardon, with his lawyer Jeffrey Fisher outlining a timeline that could produce a decision by June 2027 if the justices grant certiorari. Fisher argues the lower courts improperly allowed evidence about victim losses and that the massive forfeiture violates the Eighth Amendment’s excessive fines clause, though legal experts consider a new trial unlikely and see a possible reduction of the forfeiture as more plausible. The article also notes that former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, a key cooperator, has taken a full-time role at Manifund after prison, drawing both support from the group’s CEO and harsh criticism online.

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KuCoin Unveils 5.0 With Major Upgrades Across Trading, AI and Asset Management

KuCoin has introduced KuCoin 5.0, a platform-wide upgrade built around its new “Trust, Built-in” brand initiative. The overhaul spans six areas: Compliance, Technology, Assets, Experience, AI and Wealth Management.

Key enhancements include:

AI Assistant 5.0: Integrated AI support across the user journey.
Wealth Management: VIP benefits, Earn access for sub-accounts and KCUSD as margin in Unified Trading Account (UTA).
Enhanced User Experience: Improved navigation, charts, accessibility and account controls, with UTA for eligible VIP1+ users.

Read the full announcement here

Ledger asks resellers to halt sales in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong

Ledger has asked resellers and distributors in Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Hong Kong to suspend sales and remove its hardware wallets from shelves while it investigates reports of tampered devices. The investigation became public on Oct. 9 after reports of stolen crypto tied to devices bought through reseller CryptoBilis, prompting Ledger to expand its earlier sales-halt request to the broader region. Ledger said the only confirmed incidents remain contained to Southeast Asia and that it has no indication its own infrastructure, systems, services, or direct sales channel were compromised.

Is Bitcoin kidding itself about the Lightning Network?

Bitcoin developer Paul Sztorc recently claimed the community is lying to itself about the Lightning Network, saying custodial services handle over 80% of payments and comparing their promotion to Theranos. His critique revives a long-running debate: Lightning was meant to make Bitcoin faster and cheaper, but liquidity, routing failures, and node/channel management still create friction. His custody figure can’t be verified from public data because Lightning payments are private.

Supporters like Amboss and Breez say the user experience has improved, with new tools hiding complexity and non-custodial wallets becoming comparable to custodial ones. But adoption data is mixed: Lightning saw $1.17 billion across 5.22 million transactions in November 2025, below its August 2023 transaction peak, and CoinGate said Lightning was 9.6% of Bitcoin payments. The article concludes that technical progress doesn’t equal mainstream usability, and claims about custody and adoption remain hard to prove.