News related to
work

The Bifrost subsea cable system has been certified as Ready for Service, paving the way for commercial data traffic between Singapore and the western United States.

Stretching more than 20,000 km, Bifrost charts a novel route via Indonesia—across the Java Sea and Celebes Sea—enabling the first direct subsea connection between Singapore and the U. S. West Coast. Its design supports over 260 Tbps of capacity, and the round-trip latency between Singapore and the U. S. is projected at under 165 milliseconds, approximately 10 ms faster than many alternative routes.

Keppel Ltd holds five of the total 12 fibre pairs in Bifrost, through a 40-60 joint venture with private fund co-investors. The cable system’s landing stations include Grover Beach, Winema, Guam, Singapore, and branching units to Jakarta, Manado, and Davao in the Philippines.

Manjot Singh Mann, CEO for Connectivity at Keppel, described Bifrost as a “landmark project” that will “bolster digital connectivity between Southeast Asia and the USA” and reinforce Singapore’s status as a regional digital hub. Alcatel Submarine Networks handled the cable’s construction; its CEO, Alain Biston, noted that reaching readiness reflects “the hard work of ASN teams working hand in hand with our client.”

In the Philippines, Converge ICT serves as the landing party at Davao. Dennis Anthony Uy, Converge’s CEO, said that the cable will “not only boost the company’s international bandwidth capacity, but for the Philippines, it will mean redundancy and diversity in network infrastructure.”

The significance of Bifrost lies not only in its raw capacity and speed but also in route diversification. By crossing via Indonesia, the cable offers an alternate path independent of existing transpacific systems, lowering the risk of congestion or outages on established corridors. Analysts view its timing as aligned with surging demand for bandwidth, driven by growth in AI workloads, real-time applications, cloud services, and digital transformation across Asia.

Bifrost enters a competitive environment of subsea infrastructure expansion. Projects such as Echo, Apricot, Hawaiki Nui, and others vie for roles in connecting Asia with the Americas and the Pacific islands. Echo is expected to link Singapore to Guam and onward to Eureka, California. Apricot, largely intra-Asia in scope, is ramping up deployments across Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Indonesia.

Market commentators point out that Bifrost’s success will hinge on uptake from global cloud providers, telcos, and hyperscalers. Keppel’s stake reflects a confidence in long-term returns. Some financial analyses anticipate internal rates of return exceeding 30 percent, with projected revenue from operational and maintenance fees per fibre pair exceeding S$200 million over 25 years.

Because Keppel and its partners delayed the original launch schedule, the push to achieve RFS signals a resolve to catch up with escalating infrastructure demand.

Brazil has become Latin America’s dominant crypto market after logging $318.8 billion in cryptocurrency transaction volume between July 2024 and June 2025, accounting for about one-third of the region’s total crypto activity. That figure represents a year-on-year surge of 109.9 per cent, according to the 2025 Geography of Cryptocurrency report by Chainalysis.

No other country in Latin America comes close to Brazil’s scale: Argentina recorded $93.9 billion, Mexico $71.2 billion, Venezuela $44.6 billion, and Colombia $44.2 billion. The region as a whole pushed close to $1.5 trillion in crypto flows over the three-year span from mid-2022 to mid-2025, underscoring the growing importance of digital assets in Latin America’s financial ecosystem.

Stablecoins now dominate Brazil’s market, making up over 90 per cent of all transactions. This shift suggests that crypto is being used increasingly as a means of payment, remittance and hedge against currency volatility, rather than purely for speculative trading. Institutional and retail transfers both contributed to the growth, with institutional transfers alone more than doubling within the year.

Brazil’s regulatory framework has evolved in tandem. The 2022–2023 Brazilian Virtual Assets Law established compliance obligations for virtual asset service providers and made the central bank the authority for anti-money-laundering oversight in the crypto sector. Authorities are now finalising consultations that could yield further rules by end-2025.

Mainstream financial institutions are leveraging this clarity. Banks such as Itaú and digital platforms like Nubank and Mercado Pago are bridging traditional finance with crypto offerings. Global stakeholders have taken notice: in May 2024, Circle launched USDC services in Brazil to facilitate lower-cost and instant transfers.

Brazil’s ranking in the global crypto adoption picture has also strengthened. In Chainalysis’s 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index, Brazil advanced to fifth globally, climbing from 10th in 2024. The methodology change that year introduced a new institutional activity sub-index and removed the retail DeFi sub-index, giving greater weight to large transfers while maintaining focus on broad adoption.

Brazil’s digital payments infrastructure—anchored by the Pix instant payments system—has eased the on-ramp to crypto. More than half of financial transactions in Brazil are now conducted over Pix, enabling users to move funds into crypto platforms seamlessly. Surveys suggest that between 18 and 19 per cent of Brazilians hold cryptocurrency, a rate second only behind Argentina in the region.

Still, challenges remain. Brazil’s macroeconomic environment is volatile: inflation pressures, depreciation of the real, and tax burdens could suppress retail demand. The central bank’s Drex project—a blockchain-based settlement platform—is under trial and could support on-chain finance, but integration with existing systems is complex. Some analysts warn that regulatory overreach or tax crackdowns may stifle innovation.

Baku, Azerbaijan — Cüzdan LLC has launched a nationwide payment orchestration platform built on the technology of PayTabs Group, aiming to streamline payments for merchants and consumers across Azerbaijan. The new infrastructure enables live pay-in and pay-out transactions and seeks to boost digital inclusion by offering enhanced speed, security and flexibility in payment processing.

The platform is designed to allow merchants to onboard quickly, route payments intelligently across multiple payment service providers, and offer consumers a broader choice of payment methods. Cüzdan says the system is live and integrated with the country’s major acquiring banks. The partnership combines Cüzdan’s local network in sectors such as retail, manufacturing and consumer finance with PayTabs’ proprietary orchestration backbone.

Mustafa Baltacı, Chief Executive Officer of Cüzdan, described the launch as a pivotal moment in Azerbaijan’s shift toward a digital economy. He said the platform “serves the full spectrum of our economy — from neighbourhood shopkeepers to growing SMEs to major enterprises — with modern, secure payment solutions that drive growth and financial inclusion.” PayTabs’ growth-and-development officer, Hany Soliman, added that the firm is “proud to power Cüzdan’s payments journey” by supplying the technological architecture underpinning the rollout.

This launch marks PayTabs’ entry into Azerbaijan, extending its operational footprint beyond the GCC, Levant, North Africa and Central Asia regions into the Caucasus. Abdulaziz Al Jouf, CEO and founder of PayTabs, affirmed that this “hallmark partnership” reinforces the group’s goal to support digital transaction infrastructure across wider geographies.

Industry observers see this move as timely. Azerbaijan’s economy is pushing to modernise its payments infrastructure, support small and medium enterprises in digital adoption, and reduce friction in cross-border and domestic e-commerce flows. The flexibility offered by orchestration platforms — which manage routing, fallback, reconciliation, fraud checks and settlement across multiple payment providers — is now viewed as essential in markets with fragmented banking and payments systems.

Yet challenges remain. Success will depend on how quickly local merchants adopt the platform, the reliability of the supporting payments infrastructure, and the alignment of regulatory oversight. Ensuring interoperability with regional and international payment rails will also be vital if Cüzdan aims to facilitate cross-border commerce.

By K Raveendran It was a week of contradictions for India’s image on the world stage, marked by a curious interplay of critique, affirmation, and manoeuvring. Rahul Gandhi, in his address at Columbia University, painted a picture of India that was dark and distressing, describing the country’s democratic decline in sweeping terms. At the same […]

The article A Week Marking The Worst And Best For India On Global Stage appeared first on Latest India news, analysis and reports on Newspack by India Press Agency).

World Liberty Financial, the crypto venture tied to Donald Trump’s family, has announced it will issue a debit card enabling users to spend digital assets as conventional currency, with a pilot slated next quarter and full deployment targeted by late 2025 or early 2026.

At Singapore’s TOKEN2049 conference, CEO Zach Witkoff stated that the underlying aim is to “bridge crypto assets with everyday spending,” forecasting that the card could go live in the fourth quarter or first quarter of 2026. Co-founder Donald Trump Jr. joined the presentation, underscoring the project’s ambition to integrate cryptocurrency more deeply into consumer payments.

Beyond payments, World Liberty is advancing a plan to tokenise real-world commodities, aiming to use blockchain infrastructure to trade assets like oil, gas, timber and cotton. Witkoff described these as “really interesting” domains for on-chain trading, pointing to what the company sees as excess transactional inefficiency in traditional markets. The firm also launched its governance token, WLFI, earlier this month, and has introduced USD1, a dollar-pegged stablecoin backed by U. S. Treasuries and other cash equivalents to cut dependency on conventional banking rails.

World Liberty has secured a high-profile institutional backer: the UAE-based Aqua 1 Foundation invested USD 100 million in WLFI tokens, becoming the venture’s largest public investor. The strategic pact aims to fuel World Liberty’s expansion in South America, Europe and Asia, and to jointly incubate blockchain initiatives.

The governance token WLFI currently is non-transferable, granting holders voting rights rather than direct tradeability; World Liberty has said it is “working behind the scenes” to make WLFI transferable in the future. A large portion of WLFI’s supply remains held by the Trump family and affiliated entities.

The stablecoin USD1 gained traction after a major crypto exchange deal: World Liberty was among the early adopters when the funds backed by an Abu Dhabi entity were routed through USD1 to a major crypto platform, helping to elevate USD1’s market position in the stablecoin ecosystem.

Regulatory and ethical concerns already shadow the venture. Critics argue the project blurs lines between private enterprise and public office, noting that much of the Trump family’s wealth could become entangled with policy outcomes. Donald Trump Jr. has dismissed conflict-of-interest allegations as “complete nonsense,” but scrutiny over the convergence of politics and crypto is intensifying.

WLFI has exhibited wide volatility since launch, riding speculative momentum across global exchanges. Meanwhile, competing crypto card offerings already exist, with established fintechs and digital-asset platforms offering crypto-linked cards in partnership with Visa and Mastercard. Witkoff contends World Liberty’s version will differentiate through tighter integration with its stablecoin and tokenisation strategy.

Hamas has announced that it will free the final Israeli hostages taken in its October 2023 assault on Israel, but insisted that other elements of a U. S.-backed 20-point peace plan remain subject to negotiation, leaving the path ahead fraught with uncertainty. President Donald Trump welcomed the announcement, calling for an immediate halt to Israeli bombardment and offering indications that he might allow flexibility on the broader proposal.

Under the deal endorsed by Israel, all hostages—alive and deceased—are to be returned within 72 hours of Israel’s public acceptance, in exchange for the release of around 1,950 Palestinian detainees. The agreement envisages a phased Israeli withdrawal, transfer of Gaza’s administrative functions to apolitical technocrats, and demilitarization of Hamas. But Hamas has declined to commit to disarmament, signalling that parts of the plan will undergo further negotiation.

Trump, in a public message, said Israel “must immediately stop” its bombing of Gaza and asserted that he believed Hamas was “ready for lasting peace.” He also warned that failure to accept the terms by the deadline—Sunday at 6 p. m. Eastern Time—would provoke severe consequences. Israel has given tentative backing to the first phase of the plan, though it maintains reservation about Hamas’s retention of weapons.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted the peace initiative in principle but imposed caveats: Israel’s withdrawal will be partial, and Gaza will remain under strong security oversight. Netanyahu rejected formation of a Palestinian state under this framework, warning that such a move would reward terrorism. He has also suggested that Hamas participants who commit to peaceful transition could be granted amnesty.

Egypt, Qatar and other regional powers are acting as intermediaries to push Hamas toward acceptance. Israeli officials have reportedly reduced ground operations in Gaza City following U. S. pressure, instructing troops to limit activities to defensive operations even as the air campaign continues. Meanwhile, humanitarian groups warn that any ceasefire in name must be accompanied by unimpeded aid delivery and infrastructure repairs.

Some opposition voices in Israel—particularly among far-right coalition partners—view the latest developments as insufficient, demanding continued military pressure. Families of hostages have expressed cautious optimism, although they remain sceptical of open-ended guarantees.

In Hamas’s statement, the group claimed that the hostage release marks a gesture of “good faith,” but stressed that Israel’s withdrawal, guarantees on the safety of Gaza’s population, and the future role of Palestinian governance must be negotiated further. It described disarmament as “off the negotiating table” and refused to accept unconditional terms.

Analysts caution that the hostages’ release, while important, does not resolve deep structural issues: the role of Hamas in governance, security guarantees for Israel, and Gaza’s long-term reconstruction remain unresolved. Regional watchers view the moment as the most significant opening for a potential ceasefire in years—but one that may collapse without strict adherence to implementation timelines and third-party oversight.

International leaders have responded with varying tones. Some support the deal as a rare breakthrough, while others urge caution, calling for clear mechanisms to enforce demilitarization and civilian protections. The United Nations has reiterated its demand for accountability under international law and its role in aid operations.

Tesla has launched sales of its Cybertruck in Qatar, bolstering its Middle East expansion as the electric carmaker seeks growth beyond saturated U. S. and Chinese markets. The announcement was made via its social media channel on 3 October, following its earlier push into Saudi Arabia this year.

Underlining its Gulf ambitions, Tesla has already made the Cybertruck available in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and now Qatar joins as one of the first markets outside North America to offer the pickup. The company plans to support local sales with online ordering, pop-up showrooms, Supercharger stations, and service centres.

Tesla does not provide regional breakdowns for Cybertruck deliveries, but a U. S. recall filing notes that 46,096 units had been built between November 2023 and early 2025. Analysts say the Qatar move is timely, given Tesla faces weakening demand and intensifying rivalry in its core markets.

Qatar, meanwhile, has signalled ambition in building an EV framework. The country is working toward installing 1,000 public charging stations by 2025 and targeting 4,000 by 2035. A partnership between Tesla, the utility Kahramaa, and real estate projects like Doha Festival City aims to deploy Superchargers capable of delivering 250 kW charging, enabling about 200 miles of range in 15 minutes.

Tesla’s introduction in Qatar is part of a broader Gulf strategy that seeks to replicate its Saudi model—offering multiple variants of the Cybertruck tailored to regional conditions. For example, orders in Saudi Arabia include both All-Wheel Drive and Cyberbeast trims, with the Saudi AWD variant priced starting at around 434,990 Saudi Riyal.

However, Tesla is also reshaping its product line due to weak uptake. It has dropped the standalone rear-wheel-drive Cybertruck variant from its U. S. configurator, leaving only two higher-end models in the lineup. This shift signals that Tesla is consolidating its offerings to better match market demand.

Competition in the Gulf is mounting. Chinese manufacturers BYD and Zeekr are pushing aggressively into the region, and the U. S. EV maker Lucid—backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund—poses a formidable local rival.

Tesla’s Q3 performance provided a temporary boost: the company reported record global deliveries, partly driven by a rush before the U. S. EV tax credit expired on 30 September. Yet analysts anticipate a steep drop in Q4 sales given the expiration of that incentive.

Tesla’s entry into Qatar underscores its strategic pivot toward markets where expansion potential remains, even as challenges loom in technology adaptation, climate conditions, and consumer uptake.

Stock market information for Bitcoin
Bitcoin is a crypto in the CRYPTO market.
The price is 122782.0 USD currently with a change of 1997.00 USD from the previous close.
The intraday high is 123928.0 USD and the intraday low is 119360.0 USD.

Bitcoin cleared the $120,000 mark on Friday, marking its strongest move in months as inflows into U. S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds and fears of U. S. political gridlock spurred investor appetite.

The sharp rally saw Bitcoin rise toward levels not seen since August, with price action driven by mounting demand from institutional channels and growing speculative interest in its safe-haven appeal. Observers link the surge to accelerating purchases via ETFs, as well as elevated yields on derivative positions betting on further strength.

Citigroup this week trimmed its year-end Bitcoin forecast to $133,000, citing headwinds from a strengthening U. S. dollar and weak gold prices, while lifting expectations for Ethereum to $4,500 on the back of increasing inflows. The contrasting moves reflect a recalibration of expectations amid shifting capital flows in crypto markets.

Analysts tracking ETF inflows suggest that institutional adoption remains the catalyst for upward momentum. Bitwise reiterated a $200,000 target for Bitcoin in 2025, emphasising sustained demand from endowments, corporates, and sovereign treasuries. Meanwhile, Coindesk’s mid-year forecast placed a $150,000–$160,000 range as a probable zone should monetary policy ease.

Technical indicators show the path is not without resistance. Price models project a critical threshold at $117,000–$120,500: surpassing it decisively would confirm a bullish breakout, while failure to hold could trigger pullbacks toward $110,000 or lower support zones. Analysts caution that leveraged long positions may be vulnerable to liquidation should sentiment cool.

On-chain data shows accumulation by so-called “whales” has intensified over recent weeks, reinforcing the theory that major players are driving the advance. Machine-learning forecasting studies underscore that low, high, and opening price series remain the most informative variables for trend prediction, though the authors note models still struggle with sudden macro shocks.

MicroStrategy, a prominent corporate Bitcoin holder, has slowed its acquisitions. Its latest SEC filing disclosed a modest $22 million purchase, significantly down from earlier, more aggressive buys. That shift reflects a degree of caution in managing dilution risk and capital allocation.

Around the political landscape, speculation over a potential U. S. government shutdown elevated demand for non-traditional assets, while weak private sector job data has stoked hopes of a future rate cut by the U. S. central bank. Market participants are watching whether rate expectations shift further in favour of growth-assets like Bitcoin.

Bitwise has launched a new exchange-traded product on Deutsche Börse Xetra under the ticker AVNB, offering regulated exposure to Avalanche’s native token AVAX along with integrated staking rewards.

The ETP is physically backed and domiciled in Germany, aiming to deliver price-tracking performance plus yield, while eliminating the need for investors to manage staking infrastructure or custody themselves. Staking rewards are credited daily and automatically reinvested. The product references the “CF AVAX Staked Return Index” as its benchmark.

Bitwise positions the AVAX staking ETP as part of its growing European suite of institutional crypto products. Earlier offerings in its staking line-up include Ethereum and other digital assets. The firm emphasizes that this launch addresses demand from institutional and professional investors seeking yield-bearing digital asset exposure within regulated frameworks.

Under the terms, the ETP carries a total expense ratio of 0.85 per cent annually. Bitwise retains roughly one-third of the staking rewards generated, as a staking service fee to cover operational costs including validator services and infrastructure. The remainder is passed to investors, net of protocol fees and slashing risk.

Bradley Duke, Head of Europe at Bitwise, stated that AVNB “opens the door for investors to access price movements in AVAX coupled with staking rewards through an exchange-traded total return product.” He noted that its regulated structure and transparency aim to bridge the traditional capital markets with crypto infrastructure. John Wu, President of Ava Labs, welcomed the development, saying that offering access through established market systems expands participation in Avalanche’s ecosystem.

Avalanche has gained traction as a scalable, energy-efficient layer-1 blockchain capable of supporting subnetworks tailored for compliance, governance and performance. Its adoption extends across tokenisation, decentralised finance, gaming and payment systems. The ability to stake AVAX is an integral feature of the network’s consensus, making yield products a natural extension for investors.

Samsung is deepening its collaboration with Coinbase to integrate cryptocurrency services directly into its Wallet app. Users with Galaxy devices in the U. S. will now be able to make crypto purchases using Samsung Pay, and enjoy enhanced access to Coinbase’s premium offerings.

Wallet users will gain special access to a three-month subscription to Coinbase One, and early users may receive a $25 credit after placing their first trade. The alliance bridges Samsung’s digital wallet ecosystem with Coinbase’s crypto infrastructure to simplify onboarding for mainstream consumers.

The rollout begins with U. S. Galaxy customers, where Samsung says more than 75 million device owners could benefit. Samsung executives have signalled plans to extend the integration to other markets globally.

This isn’t the first foray for the two companies. The integration was first announced in July, enabling Samsung Pay within the Coinbase app, allowing users to fund crypto purchases without leaving the app or switching payment methods.

Under the new details, Samsung Wallet becomes a conduit not just for payments and identity, but also crypto trading, staking, and portfolio oversight. The partnership emphasises security, leveraging Samsung’s Knox platform and tokenisation to protect user assets and data.

Shan Aggarwal, Coinbase’s Chief Business Officer, said the tie-up aligns with the firm’s mission to bring “more than a billion people on chain” by meeting them on devices they already use. Drew Blackard, Senior Vice President at Samsung, noted that Galaxy users already rely on their phones for payments, identity verification and digital storage—and crypto access is a natural extension.

The push is part of Coinbase’s broader strategy of embedding crypto capabilities across consumer channels. In August, the company disclosed $1.5 billion in Q2 revenue and underscored its ambition to become what it calls “the everything exchange” — a unified gateway to trading, payments, and on-chain finance.

In parallel, Coinbase has struck partnerships with financial institutions. Notably, it is collaborating with JPMorgan Chase to let customers link their bank accounts to Coinbase wallets, enabling crypto trading and the conversion of credit card points into digital assets.

Industry observers view the Samsung integration as one of the most ambitious consumer-level crypto distribution moves to date. By embedding exchange functionality directly into a widely used mobile wallet, Coinbase and Samsung seek to lower structural barriers that often frustrate new crypto users.

That said, challenges remain. The U. S. regulatory environment around crypto remains volatile, with the SEC and other agencies scrutinising exchanges, token listings, and taxation. Skeptics warn that bundling crypto into everyday apps could expose users to market risk without full awareness.

Meanwhile, the phased rollout in the U. S. and Canada will test adoption rates, user behaviour, cross-border compliance, and competition from rival wallets like Apple Pay or Google Wallet, some of which may pursue their own crypto plans.

Markets across the crypto derivatives space are on edge as Bitcoin and Ethereum options worth approximately $4.33 billion enter settlement today, setting the stage for heightened volatility in the near term.

On the Deribit platform, Bitcoin dominates the expiries, with about $3.5 billion notional value scheduled for settlement in roughly 30,200 contracts. Its put-to-call ratio stands at 1.23, suggesting more downside protection bets than bullish wagers. The so-called “max pain” level — the strike price at which the greatest number of contracts expire worthless — is pegged at $114,000, close to current trading levels and potentially acting as a magnet for price movement.

Ethereum’s portion comprises about $806.75 million, across 177,398 contracts, with a put-to-call ratio near 0.99, indicating a more balanced bias among traders. Its max pain is estimated at $4,500, just beneath recent market trading ranges.

Derivatives analysts caution that expiries of this size tend to exert short-term pressure on price behaviour, particularly as market makers and institutional actors roll, hedge or unwind positions ahead of settlement. In many past cycles, price action has gravitated toward max pain levels in the hours leading up to expiry.

Volatility expectations are reinforced by elevated implied volatility in both Bitcoin and Ethereum options markets. Some trading desks point to a compression of liquidity around strike clusters and warn that even modest directional flows may trigger outsized price swings.

Some market strategists argue that Bitcoin’s bearish tilt reflects growing hedging demand after price consolidation above major resistance zones. Meanwhile, Ethereum’s near-neutral PCR hints at structural hedging and profit-taking rather than outright directional bets.

Macro factors could amplify sensitivity. With markets digesting central bank policy signals, inflation indicators and equity market drift, crypto derivatives flows may act as a conduit for correlation shocks. That makes expiry day risk not purely technical but potentially reactive to broader sentiment shifts.

Earlier this month, a near-identical expiry event saw $4.3 billion in options settle, with BTC positioning yielding shortterm downside pressure and ETH holding more firmly near its pricing bands. That expiry foreshadowed a larger $18 billion BTC options expiry scheduled for 26 September, intensifying speculation on whether today’s event will prime momentum.

Market watchers are watching order-book depth near the $114,000 and $4,500 levels, as sharp absorption or rejection there may offer clues to directional bias post-expiry. In the absence of sustained trend breaks, much of the post-settlement period could hinge on whether institutions successfully reestablish exposure rather than exit.

Traders are also navigating strategy choices: rolling forward, closing positions, or rebalancing via delta hedges. The interplay of those flows may create forks in volatility—in which the first few hours post-expiry see directionless chop before a stronger move emerges.