Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken secured participation from Apollo Global Management, Oppenheimer, Jane Street, and HSG (formerly Sequoia Capital China) in its recent funding round that valued the company at approximately $15 billion, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The $500 million raise, completed in September, also included Qube Research & Technologies, Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi, and his venture firm Tribe Capital. One source said the financing paves the way for a potential IPO in the coming months.

A trader monitored by on-chain AI tool CoinBob closed BTC and SOL short positions on October 23, realizing $3.63 million in profits, the platform reports. Within the past hour, the address added approximately $3.85 million to BTC shorts near the $110,000 level, bringing total BTC short exposure to roughly $12.42 million with an average entry at $112,100 and floating gains exceeding 100%. Current holdings include a 20x SOL short worth $23.05 million and a 40x BTC short worth $12.42 million. The trader has grown initial capital of $3 million to over $20 million since early this month, with multiple profitable SOL shorts including one trade yielding $5.1 million and a monthly win rate above 90%, CoinBob data show.

Three whale addresses accumulated more than 23,000 ETH in the 24 hours ending Oct. 23, spotonchain data show. Address 0x395 withdrew 12,000 ETH ($46.3 million) from Binance at $3,854 per token around 18 hours prior, bringing total holdings to 67,981 ETH ($264 million). New whale address 0x86E withdrew 8,491 ETH ($32.5 million) from OKX at $3,824 roughly 5 hours before reporting. Separately, an address linked to the Radiant Capital incident swapped 9.7 million DAI for 2,550 WETH at an average price of $3,803 through three wallets about 6 hours earlier, then moved funds through Tornado Cash.

Two addresses linked to Abraxas Capital (0x5b5, 0xb83) increased HYPE long positions at $38.6 within a 30-minute window over the past 6 hours, bringing combined holdings to approximately $7.75 million, HyperInsight data show. The addresses retain $79.77 million in HYPE short positions, with primary short exposures including $192 million in ETH, $109 million in BTC, and $51.43 million in HYPE. Total nominal holdings across both addresses declined from $620 million to $440 million, with weekly realized profits reaching $24.77 million. A subsidiary address closed multiple-token positions today and withdrew nearly $100 million, partially transferred to Binance hot wallets, reducing its nominal holdings to $38.81 million with HYPE shorts as the sole position exceeding $10 million.

Binance Alpha will launch trading for Meteora (MET) on Oct. 23 at 13:00 UTC, with users holding at least 226 Binance Alpha points eligible to claim 32 MET tokens on a first-come, first-served basis, BlockBeats reports. The points threshold will automatically decrease by 15 points per hour if rewards remain unclaimed. Claiming the airdrop will consume 15 Binance Alpha points, and users must confirm their claim within 24 hours on the Alpha activity page or forfeit eligibility.

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will lead a delegation to Malaysia from Oct. 24 to 27 for economic and trade consultations with U.S. officials, China's Ministry of Commerce said Oct. 23. The talks will address key issues in China-U.S. economic and trade relations, building on consensus reached in phone conversations between the two heads of state earlier this year.

Bitcoin traded at $110,051 on Oct. 23, rising 1.7% in 24 hours, HTX market data show. The cryptocurrency crossed back above the $110,000 level during the session.

The U.S. September CPI data is expected to show growth rates similar to August, with both headline and core annual inflation likely approaching 3.0%—a full percentage point above the Federal Reserve's 2.0% target, Dean Baker, Chief Economist at UK research institution CEPR, said on October 23. Energy components, which rose 0.7% in August, may demonstrate rapid growth again in September, while food-at-home inflation could moderate after August's 0.6% increase. Core CPI is likely to reach 0.3% month-over-month, potentially rounding to 0.4%. Baker noted that for the Fed, the direction of inflation change may be more concerning than the level itself, as inflation appears more likely to rise than fall before tariff impacts fully pass through to consumers, with complications from potential new tariffs and broader deportation effects across industries.

Bitcoin crossed $109,000 on Oct. 23, trading at $109,020 with a 0.85% increase over 24 hours, HTX market data show. The price movement reflects renewed upward momentum in the cryptocurrency market.