Franklin Templeton, Canary Capital, and Bitwise have submitted updated filings for spot XRP ETFs designed to permit trading without waiting for the SEC's formal approval during the ongoing government shutdown. The modifications could enable the products to begin trading in November, joining recently launched altcoin ETFs for Solana, Litecoin, and Hedera Hashgraph, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart.

Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission has introduced regulatory changes allowing licensed crypto exchanges to access liquidity from overseas affiliates and enabling new platforms to serve professional investors without the previously required 12-month operational track record. The regulator also announced modified licenses for custody providers and plans to issue frameworks for stablecoin issuers and crypto dealers by next year.

Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman said bipartisan negotiations on the CLARITY Act have resumed, with a committee markup potentially occurring before Thanksgiving. Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott's office confirmed talks restarted after crypto industry leaders mediated following an earlier stalemate over controversial DeFi provisions, according to Boozman and spokesman Jeft Naft.

Circle launched the public testnet of Arc, a Layer 1 blockchain designed for global payment infrastructure using digital dollars, on October 28. BlackRock, HSBC, and Absa are participating as design partners in the testing phase. The network extends beyond payments to include on-chain foreign exchange and capital markets tokenization capabilities.

Gold declined 6% this week following a 30% rally since August, lifting the BTC/gold ratio by 8%. Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan suggests Bitcoin could replicate gold's 2025 price pattern once long-term holder selling exhausts. The analysis points to potential ETF inflow shifts favoring BTC if gold's pullback continues.