Briefs · Morning brief
Morning brief: Bitcoin slips to about $80,000 as long liquidations lead; Datavault AI to restate four periods
Bitcoin was at $80,040 at 6:19 a.m. ET, down 1.67% over 24 hours, with crypto long liquidations ahead of shorts; Datavault AI says its Scilex bitcoin should not have been booked as its own asset, and Robinhood's 10-Q shows $185 million of public stock token obligations.
Bitcoin slipped to $80,040 at 6:19 a.m. ET, down 1.67% over 24 hours, and long liquidations ran ahead of shorts. Datavault AI says every financial statement it has filed since September 2025 should no longer be relied on over a bitcoin-paid stock sale to Scilex, and Robinhood's quarterly report puts its public stock token obligations at $185 million. [1][3][4][5]
Stakes / What matters today
- Bitcoin near $80,000: $80,040 at 6:19 a.m. ET, down 1.67% over 24 hours; ether −2.19%, Solana −2.70%. [1]
- Longs led liquidations: crypto long liquidations $153.7M versus shorts $83.8M over the 24 hours to about 6:10 a.m. ET. [3]
- Datavault AI non-reliance: an Item 4.02 Form 8-K says the Scilex bitcoin "did not meet the requirements for recognition as a digital asset of the Company"; four periods will be restated. [4]
- Earnings after the bell: Strategy's Q3 webinar and a Coinbase Q3 earnings Q&A, both 5 p.m. ET. [8][11]
Overnight crypto
Bitcoin was at $80,040, ether at $2,315.70 and Solana at $100.05 at 6:19 a.m. ET, down 1.67%, 2.19% and 2.70% over 24 hours, a window not measured from the prior U.S. cash close. [1]
Bitcoin's share of total crypto market cap stood at 60.13% as of 6:16 a.m. ET, and CoinMarketCap's Fear and Greed Index read 44 (Neutral) at 6:08 a.m. ET, its lowest daily reading since Oct. 26. [2]
Top 10 by market cap, CoinMarketCap quotes as of 6:05 a.m. ET:
| Rank | Coin | Price | 24h change | Market cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BTC | $80,076.56 | −1.67% | $1.61T |
| 2 | ETH | $2,317.99 | −2.23% | $283.2B |
| 3 | USDT | $0.9988 | +0.01% | $180.8B |
| 4 | BNB | $747.32 | −0.83% | $98.3B |
| 5 | XRP | $1.2906 | −2.97% | $81.8B |
| 6 | USDC | $0.9998 | +0.01% | $71.3B |
| 7 | SOL | $100.17 | −2.68% | $59.1B |
| 8 | TRX | $0.3310 | −0.15% | $31.5B |
| 9 | ZEC | $1,252.34 | −5.00% | $21.2B |
| 10 | HYPE | $79.27 | −3.63% | $20.1B |
Among the top 20 excluding stablecoins, Bitcoin Cash (−8.07%), Near (−7.54%) and Zcash (−5.00%) fell most; UNUS SED LEO (+0.88%) was the only gainer. [2]
Liquidations
Crypto short liquidations totaled $83.8M and long liquidations $153.7M over the 24 hours to about 6:10 a.m. ET, according to CoinMarketCap data. CoinMarketCap covers perpetual and futures contracts and does not tag contract type. Data: CoinMarketCap. [3]
| Coin | 24h total | Longs | Shorts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin (BTC, −1.67%) | $68.6M | $50.7M | $17.9M |
| Ethereum (ETH, −2.23%) | $66.3M | $36.1M | $30.2M |
| Solana (SOL, −2.68%) | $10.8M | $7.4M | $3.4M |
Non-crypto perpetuals (stocks, ETFs, metals, energy) saw $45.8M in long and $27.3M in short liquidations over the same window; these count only non-crypto entries in CoinMarketCap's top-250 list, so they are a minimum. Alphabet (GOOGL) led at $15.1M, almost all longs. [3]
What printed
01 · Datavault AI: Scilex bitcoin not its asset; four periods to be restated. In an Item 4.02 Form 8-K signed Oct. 26, Datavault AI says Scilex credited 1,309.04 bitcoin "through an off-chain transfer" to Datavault's wallet at Biconomy for a $150 million stock sale, and Datavault sold 491.431 of them back to Scilex for about $40.5 million. The company says that in June 2026 it requested a withdrawal from the Biconomy wallet and has "been unable to complete the withdrawal." It will instead book a subscription receivable from Scilex against equity, and preliminarily expects total assets to fall by $8.1 million, $92.2 million, $57.1 million and $49.0 million across four reported periods; findings are "preliminary, unaudited and may be subject to change." The filing states no remaining balance; by Le Coin arithmetic, 1,309.04 less 491.431 is 817.609 bitcoin. [4]
02 · Robinhood: $185 million of stock token obligations; chain claims sit in the earnings release. Robinhood's Q3 Form 10-Q shows public stock token obligations with an aggregate fair value of $185 million at Sept. 30, backed by securities of the same value. [5] Stock Tokens "are tokenized debt securities" issued by Robinhood Assets (Jersey) Limited and convey no shareholder rights. [5] The 10-Q gives no separate Robinhood Chain revenue figure; the amended earnings release (Form 8-K/A, Ex. 99.1, Oct. 27) says the chain generated "over $80 billion in DEX volume and over $50 million of chain fees" in its first quarter on Mainnet. [6] The amendment changes only how income tax effects of non-GAAP adjustments are presented and "does not affect any GAAP financial results." [12]
03 · CFTC Chair Selig poses registration, liability and "know-your-agent" questions for AI trading agents. In remarks Oct. 28 at the CFTC Innovation Task Force's Frontier Forum, Selig asked whether a trading agent's developer "become[s] subject to registration," "who is liable if the agent goes rogue," and whether regulators need "KYA or know-your-agent." He called the never-finalized Regulation AT proposal "ill-suited for today's landscape." He said the views were his own; he announced no proposal or rule. [7]
04 · Fed held rates on Oct. 28. The FOMC kept its target range at 3-3/4 to 4 percent on a 10–2 vote; Cook and Hammack preferred a 25-basis-point move. [9]
Open items
- Datavault AI: no date set for restated filings; the company flags a possible delay to its Q3 2026 10-Q, a going concern reassessment, and efforts "to collect amounts from Scilex or obtain the cooperation of Biconomy." [4]
- Robinhood: whether the Q4 filing breaks out Robinhood Chain revenue; Stock Tokens are not eligible under the SEC's Sept. 17 temporary innovation exemption, per the 10-Q. [5]
- CFTC 24/7 trading: roundtable Dec. 15, agenda and speakers still to be posted. [10]
On the calendar
| When (ET) | What |
|---|---|
| Thu Oct. 29, 5:00 p.m. | Strategy (MSTR) Q3 earnings webinar [11] |
| Thu Oct. 29, 5:00 p.m. | Coinbase Q3 earnings Q&A on X [8] |
| Tue Dec. 15 | CFTC roundtable on 24/7 trading; agenda to be posted [10] |
Sources (12)
- Prices: Powered by CoinGecko API (https://www.coingecko.com/en/api). Endpoint /api/v3/simple/price, accessed Oct. 29, 2026, 6:19 a.m. ET.
drop/2026-10-29-morning-brief/raw/coingecko-simple-price-0619et.json(sha256 4237b2c7b5b8222004c4a60d82034db0235cc529e6fceb69c5a9b373cc497564). - Prices and market data: CoinMarketCap, https://coinmarketcap.com, accessed Oct. 29, 2026, 6:18 a.m. ET (quotes 6:05 a.m. ET; dominance 6:16 a.m. ET; Fear and Greed 6:08 a.m. ET). Context CSV sha256 f4566c52336f49108910cb91e0a48b7f8cb12635c1671bbf1db9e7096e216a85.
- CoinMarketCap liquidations, trailing 24 hours to about 6:10 a.m. ET Oct. 29, 2026 (aggregate 6:03 a.m. ET; per-asset 6:09 a.m. ET); DAE pack
drop/2026-10-29-morning-brief/pack.md(sha256 c5fddbbfb306e2290b0ee7cba3c6ab16c2ac99983305419f62dff749ae87f11b). - Datavault AI Inc., Form 8-K, Item 4.02, signed Oct. 26, 2026, https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1682149/000110465926118772/tm2628100d1_8k.htm , accessed Oct. 29, 2026, 6:03 a.m. ET.
- Robinhood Markets, Inc., Form 10-Q for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2026, https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1783879/000178387926000167/hood-20260930.htm , accessed Oct. 29, 2026, 6:03 a.m. ET.
- Robinhood Markets, Inc., Form 8-K/A Item 2.02 and Ex. 99.1, filed Oct. 27, 2026, https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1783879/000178387926000170/q32026robinhoodamendedex991.htm , accessed Oct. 29, 2026, 6:03 a.m. ET.
- Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Chairman Michael S. Selig, "Remarks at Frontier Forum on Super Intelligence," Oct. 28, 2026, https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/SpeechesTestimony/opaselig14 , accessed Oct. 29, 2026, about 6:10 a.m. ET.
- Coinbase Global, Inc., "Coinbase Announces Date of Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results," Oct. 14, 2026 (live Q&A on X at 2:00 p.m. PT, 5:00 p.m. ET), https://investor.coinbase.com/news/news-details/2026/Coinbase-Announces-Date-of-Third-Quarter-2026-Financial-Results/default.aspx , accessed Oct. 29, 2026, 6:25 a.m. ET.
- Federal Reserve, FOMC statement, Oct. 28, 2026, https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20261028a.htm , accessed Oct. 28, 2026, about 4:10 p.m. ET.
- Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Press Release 9318-26, Oct. 28, 2026, https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/9318-26 , accessed Oct. 29, 2026, about 6:20 a.m. ET.
- Strategy Inc, "Strategy Announces Earnings Release Date and Live Video Webinar for Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results," Oct. 8, 2026 (results after the U.S. close Oct. 29; webinar 5:00 p.m. ET), https://www.strategy.com/press/strategy-announces-earnings-release-date-and-live-video-webinar-for-third-quarter-2026-financial-results_10-08-2026 , accessed Oct. 29, 2026, 6:25 a.m. ET.
- Robinhood Markets, Inc., Form 8-K/A (cover document), filed Oct. 27, 2026, https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1783879/000178387926000170/hood-20261027.htm , accessed Oct. 29, 2026, 6:03 a.m. ET.
Holding the Corner.
Not financial advice.