Anthropic warns in its IPO prospectus that deteriorating relations with the U.S. government could trigger broader business disruption, even though government agency contracts account for less than 1% of annual revenue. The company says negative official perceptions of its technology or conduct could lead to revenue losses, operational disruption and reputational harm. It points to recent actions including its removal from USAi.gov and a federal procurement schedule, as well as a temporary export-control move that forced it to suspend access to newly released models.

Crypto ETFs recorded $48.27M in net inflows on October 1, according to CoinMarketCap data. Bitcoin ETFs took in $96M, while Ethereum ETFs saw $55M in net outflows. Over the prior week, crypto ETFs posted $299.09M in net inflows. Over the past month, the category recorded $214.02M in net outflows.

Anthropic is sticking with plans to go public in 2026, even as IPO sentiment cools and scrutiny of AI safety intensifies. A leaked IPO filing shows the company posted an $8B operating loss while revenue grew quickly. The report surfaced alongside a wave of fundraising and deal activity across AI startups, underscoring continued investor appetite for the sector.

The Ethereum Foundation has introduced zkAPI, a system designed to let users pay for artificial intelligence models without revealing their identity. Users can deposit tokens such as Ethereum into a vault contract on the ETH network, where balances are recorded as private notes. The setup is intended to enable on-chain private payments and broaden Ethereum’s use cases in AI. Ethereum was trading at $2,765.00 U.S. on Oct. 2.

A weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs report pushed the unemployment rate up to 4.2% and led markets to sharply increase bets that the Federal Reserve will pause rate hikes. Traders are now pricing an 83% probability the Fed holds rates in October. U.S. equity futures rose about 1%, led by Nasdaq futures up 1.4%, while Treasury yields fell across the curve with the 2-year yield down 7.1 basis points. Oil prices also eased, with Brent trading around $99.50 a barrel.

Circle is lobbying the European Union to relax reserve rules under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) that require stablecoin issuers to keep a minimum share of reserves as bank deposits. MiCA currently sets that floor at 30% for e-money token issuers and 60% for issuers the EU deems significant. Circle cites USDC’s brief de-pegging during the 2023 Silicon Valley Bank episode as evidence that high concentration in bank deposits can threaten stability, and it also proposes removing a 35% cap on exposure to any single sovereign and a 1.5% limit tied to any one bank’s total assets. Circle shares, CRCL, are currently trading at $87.80.

Nike reported another weak quarter, with Nike Brand sales down 4%, online sales down 13%, China sales down 26% and Converse sales down 28%. The company said it expects fiscal 2027 revenue to fall by a high single-digit percentage. Nike guided earnings per share of $1.15 to $1.35, below the market’s $1.66 expectation, and indicated another round of layoffs.

High gold prices are pushing middle-class Indian buyers to shift to silver during the festive season, lifting silver’s revenue share for jewellers to 25-30% from 10% two years ago. The industry expects Diwali-season silver purchases to rise 17-18% year on year, while August import value jumped 127% to over $1 billion. Some investors are also betting that silver prices could double from around Rs 2.3 lakh per kg.