The crypto market is heading into a packed week of exchange closures, policy deadlines, infrastructure launches, community events, and token unlocks. One of the headline items is the 12th Global Blockchain Summit, hosted by Wanxiang Blockchain Labs, which is set to open in Shanghai on Sept. 23. Another is Plasma’s scheduled unlock of about 1.76 billion XPL at 20:00 Beijing time on Sept. 25, a tranche valued at about $158 million and equal to roughly 63.20% of circulating supply.
The same week also includes speeches from multiple Federal Reserve policymakers, the Sept. 21 launch of the Eurosystem’s distributed ledger technology settlement project Pontes, the formal shutdown of BitMEX at 12:00 Beijing time on Sept. 23, Binance’s Sept. 24 delisting of USDP and related service wind-down, and Humanity Protocol’s Sept. 25 unlock of about 266 million H tokens worth about $19.2 million.
Sept. 21
Fed speaker calendar
At 18:30 on Monday, Sept. 21, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee, a 2027 FOMC voter, is scheduled to speak.
Pontes goes live for Eurosystem DLT settlement
The Eurosystem’s distributed ledger technology settlement project, Pontes, is scheduled to go live on Sept. 21, supporting settlement of tokenized securities in central bank money.
Clearstream has said it took part in end-to-end testing ahead of launch, covering system connectivity, settlement workflows, and operational readiness. Axiology has also been advancing testing and certification, with scenarios including securities issuance, secondary-market trading, redemption, and coupon payments.
Pontes is designed as an interoperability bridge linking multiple market DLT platforms to the Eurosystem’s TARGET services. It is intended to support wholesale transactions, including tokenized securities settled in central bank money, and to enable synchronized settlement such as delivery-versus-payment through Hash-Link, a mechanism described as similar to hash-lock escrow. At launch, finality on the cash leg will be achieved after the corresponding transfer is completed in the T2 system.
The European Central Bank has removed the project’s “pilot” label. In remarks on Aug. 26, ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone described Pontes as an operational service and said it would initially charge only a one-time onboarding fee. He also said operating hours would be extended over time, with 24/7 service and multi-currency capability planned by mid-2028.
The project stems from a two-track plan approved by the ECB Governing Council on July 1, 2025: Pontes as the short-term track and Appia, aimed at an integrated DLT capital market, as the long-term track. A roadmap for Appia was released recently.
ProCap Financial joins Russell indexes
ProCap Financial, the bitcoin treasury company tied to Anthony Pompliano, will be added to the Russell 2000 and Russell 3000 indexes. The change takes effect at the open of the U.S. stock market on Sept. 21.
The company had previously said it will rename itself Silvia, Inc. on Sept. 22 and change its ticker to SVIA.
Sept. 22
Fed speakers
On Tuesday, Sept. 22, New York Fed President John Williams, a permanent FOMC voter, is scheduled to speak at the 2026 U.S. Treasury market conference at 22:05. Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson is scheduled to speak at the same event at 22:20.
MOEX to launch crypto index perpetual futures
Moscow Exchange, or MOEX, Russia’s largest securities exchange, said it will launch overnight-settled perpetual futures tied to BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, and TRX indexes on Sept. 22. The contracts will be available only to qualified investors. They will be quoted in U.S. dollars based on the relevant index values, while settlement will take place in Russian rubles.
CoinEx to stop operations and begin orderly liquidation
Crypto exchange CoinEx said it will cease operations and begin an orderly liquidation, citing a prolonged weak crypto market, shrinking trading volume and liquidity, rising regulatory requirements, and compliance costs that exceeded a reasonable range.
Under the timetable, the platform began winding down services on Sept. 15, 2026. New user registration and referral rewards stopped that day, and futures entered reduce-only mode. All non-spot services will stop on Sept. 22. Spot trading will end on Sept. 29, and all CET in user accounts will be repurchased at 0.005 USDT per CET. The withdrawal period ends on Dec. 22, when the platform will stop operating.
CoinEx said its reserve ratio exceeds 100% and that user assets can be fully withdrawn. Unclaimed USDT will be moved into independent custody, with a monthly custody fee of 5% of the original balance. The exchange also said this is its final official announcement and that any later notice issued in the name of CoinEx should be treated as fraud.
Zilliqa’s second hard fork for exchange migration
Zilliqa’s second exchange-migration hard fork is expected to be triggered at 07:21 UTC on Sept. 22 at block height 36,383,378. Participating exchanges will move ZIL from legacy wallets to verified Zilliqa EVM addresses.
The migration list includes CoinEx, HTX, Bitkub, GOPAX, Coinone, OKX, LBank, Crypto.com, Gate, Paribu, CEX.IO, Bitget, and Bybit, while Bithumb is expected to complete migration in the third hard fork. After the migration, exchanges will gradually resume ZIL deposits and withdrawals on Zilliqa EVM, with timing subject to each platform’s own notice. The ZKP migration tool audit has been completed and is planned to go live when the relevant custody contracts are activated in this hard fork.
The Sandbox compensation claim window closes
The Sandbox said on X that it has launched a SAND compensation claims page for the Aug. 22 cross-chain bridge attack on Base and BNB Chain. The claim window runs from Sept. 8 to Sept. 22.
All wallets that legitimately held bridged SAND before the attack are eligible for 1:1 SAND compensation on Ethereum. No form or document submission is required; users only need to send one transaction from the wallet that held the tokens. Users who held SAND through centralized exchanges do not need to take action, as the team is coordinating with exchanges. Those who miss the Sept. 22 deadline can contact the team before the end of October for separate handling.
The team said it will not send direct messages or ask users to approve tokens, sign off-chain messages, or transfer funds.
Token unlocks
- SPACE ID (ID): about 69.88 million tokens at 08:00 Beijing time on Sept. 22, equal to about 4.56% of circulating supply and worth about $2.4 million.
- MBG By MultiBank Group (MBG): about 23.6 million tokens at 20:00 Beijing time on Sept. 22, equal to about 5.04% of circulating supply and worth about $2.4 million.
Sept. 23
Fed speaker calendar
At 01:00 on Wednesday, Sept. 23, Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin, a 2027 FOMC voter, is scheduled to speak.
BitMEX to shut down
Crypto exchange BitMEX will formally shut down at 12:00 Beijing time on Sept. 23, 2026. The company said the board of parent HDR Global Trading Limited decided to close the exchange after a strategic review of the business and the crypto industry.
The platform will continue operating normally until closure, but since 12:00 Beijing time on Aug. 26, users have been barred from opening new positions and can only reduce existing ones. Any remaining positions after the shutdown time will be forcibly closed. KYC users who fail to withdraw assets before the deadline will be charged an account management fee of $50 per month or 1% of the balance, whichever is higher, and the fee may be raised.
BitMEX also warned users about phishing attempts tied to the announcement and said withdrawals may be delayed by factors such as blockchain confirmation times, while adding that assets exceed liabilities.
RISEx offers white-hat terms to attacker
Decentralized exchange RISEx sent an on-chain message to the attacker behind the XLP vault exploit, saying it had observed the funds beginning to move. The team proposed that the attacker keep 20%, about 134,566 USDC, and return the remaining 80%, about 538,265 USDC or the equivalent in ETH, to the project’s official Ethereum or Base address before Sept. 23. If returned on those terms, the case could be handled as a white-hat incident.
RISEx had said on Aug. 4 that an RWA strategy tied to its XLP vault suffered unauthorized withdrawals totaling 673,011.56 USDC.
12th Global Blockchain Summit opens in Shanghai
On Sept. 23, 2026, the 12th Global Blockchain Summit hosted by Wanxiang Blockchain Labs will be held at Hyatt on the Bund in Shanghai, serving as the opening event of Shanghai Blockchain International Week.
The summit’s theme is “New Blockchain Economy, Intelligent Chain Symbiosis.” Discussions are set to cover the 12-year development of blockchain, the convergence of AI and blockchain, the shift in traditional finance, stablecoin payments, and the scaling of RWA. Shanghai Blockchain International Week will also include technical workshops, project roadshows, academic seminars, and ecosystem events.
Token unlocks
- SOON (SOON): about 20.24 million tokens at 16:30 Beijing time on Sept. 23, equal to about 3.62% of circulating supply and worth about $3.8 million.
Sept. 24
Fed speakers
On Thursday, Sept. 24, Williams will join former Bank of England Deputy Governor Charlie Bean for a fireside chat at the London Macro Policy Forum at 16:10. Barkin is scheduled for a fireside chat at an economic club at 20:00. Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack, a 2026 FOMC voter, is due to deliver opening remarks at 20:50, and Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker, listed here as a 2026 FOMC voter, is scheduled to speak at a fintech conference at 22:10.
Coinbase to suspend IOTX trading
Coinbase said it will suspend trading in IoTeX (IOTX) at around 02:00 Beijing time on Sept. 24, 2026, across Coinbase.com, including Simple and Advanced Trade, Coinbase Exchange, and Coinbase Prime. The relevant order books have already moved to limit-only mode, where limit orders can be placed and canceled.
Coinbase said it regularly monitors assets on the exchange to ensure they continue to meet its listing standards.
Binance to support STG merger into ZRO
Binance said it will support the merger of Stargate Finance (STG) into LayerZero (ZRO), automatically converting user holdings at a ratio of 1 STG = 0.08634 ZRO.
On the spot side, STG/USDT spot trading and related open orders will be removed at 11:00 on Oct. 6, 2026. Deposits and withdrawals for legacy STG will be suspended at 11:30 the same day, after which old-token deposits and withdrawals will no longer be supported. STG will also be removed from small-balance conversion at 10:00 on Oct. 5. On the derivatives side, STGUSDT U-margined and STGUSD coin-margined perpetual contracts will be automatically settled and delisted at 17:00 on Sept. 24, 2026. Margin, crypto loans, earn, pay, convert, and one-click buy/sell support for STG will also be phased out between Sept. 19 and Oct. 9 as products migrate to ZRO.
Binance to delist USDP and end related services
Binance said it will delist all Pax Dollar (USDP) spot trading pairs at 11:00 UTC+8 on Sept. 24, 2026, and end related services including Trading Bots, Spot Copy Trading, Convert, and Gift Card.
USDP products across Simple Earn, Dual Investment, Mining Pool, Loan, Margin, Buy & Sell, and Pay will be closed, forcibly settled, redeemed, or refunded in stages from Sept. 11 through Sept. 24. Deposits of USDP will no longer be credited after 11:00 UTC+8 on Sept. 25, while withdrawals will remain available until 11:00 UTC+8 on Nov. 24. After that, the token may be converted into a stablecoin depending on circumstances, or only the withdrawal channel may remain.
Phantom to end Sui support
Phantom and Sui said support for Sui on Phantom will end on Sept. 24, while leaving open the possibility of exploring other forms of cooperation in the future.
Before Sept. 24, users can migrate their wallet to another app that supports Sui, or swap Sui into another asset supported on Phantom. Phantom said it will waive fees.
Token unlocks
- SoSoValue (SOSO): about 23.46 million tokens at 17:00 Beijing time on Sept. 24, equal to about 5.97% of circulating supply and worth about $6.8 million.
Sept. 25
Fed speaker calendar
At 17:15 on Friday, Sept. 25, Williams is scheduled to speak.
Thailand SEC consultation on stablecoin rules closes
Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed new stablecoin rules under which licensed crypto platforms would only be allowed to let customers deposit or withdraw stablecoins to and from their own verified accounts or wallets, while transfers to third-party wallets would be prohibited. The proposal also sets a daily cap of 5 million baht, about $150,000, for inflows and outflows per person per platform.
The proposal remains in the public consultation stage and has not taken effect. Comments are due by Sept. 25.
Switchboard to cease operations
Oracle protocol Switchboard said it is shutting down. Its core development contributor, Switchboard Technology Labs, will gradually wind down remaining operations. All Switchboard implementations have stopped being maintained immediately, and remaining support will end on Sept. 25. Protocols using its oracle services were told to migrate immediately to alternatives such as Pyth and RedStone.
Switchboard said AI has lowered the cost of building in-house oracle systems, while the crypto bear market has reduced the number of new chains and project budgets. It also pointed to a model in which Hyperliquid works directly with data providers such as S&P, saying that protocols may increasingly source data directly, weakening the value proposition of third-party oracle networks.
Balancer shutdown proposal heads to Snapshot vote
Balancer has published a proposal for an orderly shutdown of the protocol. The plan would halt new business expansion and distribute the DAO treasury to BAL holders on a proportional basis. A Snapshot vote is expected to run from Sept. 25 to Sept. 29.
Under the proposal, pausable pools would become withdrawal-only starting Oct. 30, and contributor contracts would end on Oct. 31. The DAO treasury is valued at at least about $9 million at current prices. The team proposes canceling the BIP-919 buyback and launching the first distribution by the end of May 2027 after deducting exit costs. Holders would be able to burn BAL to claim a proportional share of treasury assets, and the full wind-down process is expected to conclude in July 2028.
The proposal also cited earlier difficulties, including an attack on legacy v2 pools in November 2025, weaker prospects for business expansion, v3 revenue failing to replace v2, and the departure of some core personnel.
Token unlocks
- Big Time (BIGTIME): about 333 million tokens at 08:00 Beijing time on Sept. 25, equal to about 13.34% of circulating supply and worth about $2.7 million.
- Humanity Protocol (H): about 266 million tokens at 08:00 Beijing time on Sept. 25, equal to about 7.34% of circulating supply and worth about $19.2 million.
- Plasma (XPL): about 1.76 billion tokens at 20:00 Beijing time on Sept. 25, equal to about 63.20% of circulating supply and worth about $158 million.
Sept. 26
Token unlocks
- STBL (STBL): about 210 million tokens at 18:00 Beijing time on Sept. 26, equal to about 4.42% of circulating supply and worth about $5.3 million.
Sept. 27
No events are listed.