Midday Crypto Headlines — October 10, 2026
1. XRP Ledger Patches Decade-Old Bug That Could Have Minted XRP From Thin Air
The XRP Ledger has fixed a payment-system vulnerability believed to date back to 2015. In theory, an attacker could have used a single crafted payment to bypass the ledger's calculation limits on token swaps, minting large amounts of XRP out of thin air and spending it — undermining confidence in the token's 100-billion hard cap. Researchers Cayden Liao and Veria AI reported the flaw on September 22; RippleX reproduced it and shipped the fix in xrpld 3.4.1 on September 25, saying there is no evidence it was ever exploited on a public network.
2. UK Sanctions Three Crypto Platforms Over Alleged Russia Links
The UK government sanctioned crypto platforms Cryptomus, Heleket and TokenSpot, plus related payment firms, accusing them of helping Russia evade financial sanctions; two were said to have processed transactions tied to the Kremlin-backed A7 network. The move is part of 38 new designations, freezing the entities' UK-held assets. Blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs says TokenSpot alone moved over $950 million to the already-sanctioned Grinex, Garantex and the A7 network.
3. Visa Survey: Nearly Half of APAC Consumers Open to Stablecoins by 2031
Visa's Consumer 360 survey finds 46% of Asia-Pacific consumers are likely to use stablecoins within five years, far above the 16% who used them in the past year. The poll covered 14,250 people across 14 markets, with Vietnam and India showing the strongest intent (67%) and Hong Kong the highest awareness (84%). The knowledge gap remains wide: only 6% truly understand how stablecoins work, and fraud fears are the top barrier among non-users.
4. Zcash Developers Target January for Quantum-Resistant Payments
Zcash developers plan to introduce hash-based, quantum-resistant signature opcodes in January, first protecting transparent transactions — about 70% of issued ZEC — with shielded payments to follow separately. The move follows Ethereum researcher Justin Drake's "bunker mode" warning that AI could find shortcuts through the math protecting Bitcoin and Ethereum wallets "in months, not years." Ethereum's own full migration to quantum-resistant cryptography targets December 2029.
Summarized from public reporting. For reference only, not investment advice. Crypto is risky — do your own research.