Bitcoin Clears $85K as Perpetual Futures Race Heats Up, Institutional Blockchain Settlement Goes…

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Welcome to Stock Market Today, your market briefing with actionable insights on stocks, bonds, crypto, and the events moving markets.

Let's get into it. Bitcoin cleared $85,000, currently at $85,288, after a short squeeze liquidated over $647 million in bearish bets. The move breached the 50-week moving average for the first time in 45 weeks, a technical level that historically precedes major bull runs.

Open interest surged 7.5% to $156 billion, signaling traders are reloading positions. Ethereum is at 2,736, while Nier exploded nearly 80% to $4.18 on heavy privacy-focused swap traffic. Institutional blockchain adoption accelerated sharply. The European Central Bank launched Pontes, enabling banks to settle tokenized assets in central bank money. South Korea's Hana Bank issued $100 million digital bond, achieving same-day settlement versus the traditional three-to-five-day window. The Bank of Korea kicked off a pilot for 24-7-1 settlement starting January, 2027 This is live infrastructure powering real capital flows. Kalshi and Coinbase both filed with the SEC on September 19th to offer US stock perpetual futures with no expiration dates. Kraken's parent Payward filed through Bitnomial Exchange targeting Tesla, NVIDIA, Apple, Microsoft and Amazon for 24-5 trading. North Korean group Waterplum infected at least 30,000 devices across over 100 countries, stealing 10.7 million in crypto from 7,000 wallets between December 2025 and July 2026 Attackers posed as recruiters distributing malware disguised as coding assignments. Strategy resumed Bitcoin accumulation, buying 950 BTC for 75.7 million. The company now holds 846,000 Bitcoin.

MSTR shares jumped 7% in pre-market Monday. Brent crude fell below $102 as US-Iran diplomatic talks progress.

Lower energy costs ease Fed inflation concerns with rate hike odds for October at 53%. That wraps your market intel. Trade smart out there. For deeper insights and real-time analysis, visit capitalcopilot.io.