Cryptocurrency markets confirmed indicators of consolidation within the second week of October, at the same time as traders continued to wager on one other “Uptober” rally to new highs.
Additionally within the information this week was the $11 billion Bitcoin (BTC) whale who returned after a two-month hiatus to switch one other $360 million in BTC, signaling a possible rotation into the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, with an extra $5 billion left of their pockets.
In one other potential Uptober catalyst, the US Securities and Alternate Fee (SEC) acquired 31 crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF) functions, with 21 of them filed through the first eight days of October.
Nonetheless, the continuing authorities shutdown might gradual the regulatory response to those functions, because the SEC said that it’s going to function “underneath modified situations” with an “extraordinarily restricted variety of workers” till a funding invoice is handed.
As Democrats and Republicans failed to succeed in an settlement for the seventh time on Thursday, the federal government shutdown will lengthen into subsequent week, because the Senate will go away city till Tuesday, CBS Information reported.
$11 billion Bitcoin whale returns with $360 million BTC switch after two months
A Bitcoin whale that held about $11 billion in BTC earlier than rotating greater than $5 billion of the stash into Ether (ETH) two months in the past has returned to the cryptocurrency market with one other $360 million Bitcoin switch.
The whale handle transferred $360 million price of Bitcoin into decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Hyperunit’s scorching pockets “bc1pd” on Tuesday. This marked their first switch in two months, in accordance to blockchain information platform Arkham.
The switch might sign one other rotation into Ether, primarily based on the whale’s transaction patterns.
The $11 billion Bitcoin whale surfaced two months in the past and rotated about $5 billion price of BTC into Ether, briefly surpassing the second-largest company treasury agency, Sharplink, by way of whole ETH holdings, Cointelegraph reported on Sept. 1.
The whale nonetheless held over $5 billion price of Bitcoin of their important pockets as of Wednesday, signaling extra potential promoting strain for the world’s first cryptocurrency.
The Bitcoin whale began rotating their funds into Ether on Aug. 21 after they bought $2.59 billion of BTC for a $2.2 billion spot Ether and a $577 million Ether perpetual lengthy place.
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DeFi TVL hits file $237 billion as day by day energetic wallets fall 22% in Q3: DappRadar
The decentralized software (DApp) trade ended the third quarter of 2025 with combined outcomes, as decentralized finance (DeFi) liquidity surged to a file excessive whereas person exercise fell sharply, in keeping with new information from DappRadar.
In a report despatched to Cointelegraph, DappRadar mentioned that day by day distinctive energetic wallets averaged 18.7 million in Q3, down 22.4% from the second quarter. In the meantime, DeFi protocols collectively locked in $237 billion, the very best whole worth locked (TVL) ever recorded within the house.
The report highlighted an ongoing divergence between institutional capital flowing into blockchain-based monetary platforms and the engagement of retail customers with DApps. Whereas DeFi TVL reached file ranges of liquidity, total exercise lagged, suggesting weaker retail participation.
“Wanting on the whole quarter, each class famous a drop in energetic wallets, however the affect was largely felt within the Social and AI classes,” DappRadar wrote. AI-focused DApps misplaced over 1.7 million customers, going from a day by day common of 4.8 million in Q2 to three.1 million in Q3, whereas SocialFi DApps went from 3.8 million to 1.5 million in Q3.
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New Japan PM might enhance crypto financial system, “refine” blockchain rules
Japan’s newly elected prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, might open the door for extra “refined” rules to spice up the nation’s cryptocurrency financial system, which can be set to emerge as the subsequent world hub for crypto firms.
Takaichi was elected chief of the Liberal Democratic Occasion (LDP) on Saturday and is about to turn out to be Japan’s first feminine prime minister when she takes workplace on Oct. 15.
Consultants say her management might introduce a extra open stance towards technological experimentation, together with blockchain innovation, whereas sustaining Japan’s rigorous regulatory requirements.
Takaichi’s election might have a “materials affect on the notion and governance of digital property inside the nation,” in keeping with Elisenda Fabrega, common counsel at tokenization platform Brickken.
In earlier public positions, Takichi has expressed help for “technological sovereignty,” mentioning the “strategic growth of digital infrastructure, together with blockchain know-how,” Fabrega instructed Cointelegraph. “From a authorized perspective, this means that her administration might undertake a posture that isn’t solely permissive however doubtlessly proactive in selling the digital financial system.”
Fabrega added that Takaichi’s political positioning might strengthen “Japan’s dedication to authorized certainty within the crypto house” and renew curiosity within the nation as an innovation-friendly crypto hub.
Japan’s authorities is recognizing blockchain as a “ pillar of its digital transformation technique,” mentioned Maarten Henskens, chief working officer at Startale Group and head of Astar Basis.
“A looser financial outlook underneath the brand new management may maintain liquidity and gas investor urge for food for different property, together with cryptocurrencies,” Henskens instructed Cointelegraph.
“At Startale and Astar, we see this as a powerful atmosphere to proceed advancing Japan’s Web3 ecosystem,” he added.
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Afghanistan web blackout “a wake-up name” for blockchain decentralization
Afghanistan’s current nationwide web outage underscored a vital weak point on the planet’s main decentralized blockchains: their dependence on centralized web suppliers that stay susceptible to authorities intervention and technical failures.
The nation suffered a near-total web shutdown that lasted about 48 hours earlier than connectivity was restored on Oct. 1, Reuters reported. The disruption was reportedly ordered by the Taliban administration, although officers later blamed “technical points” involving fiber optic cables.
Whereas blockchains intention to supply folks with a public, censorship-resistant community for worth transfers, their reliance on centralized web suppliers makes these use instances difficult throughout outages.
“The Afghanistan blackout isn’t just a regional connectivity disaster: It’s a wake-up name,” mentioned Michail Angelov, co-founder of decentralized WiFi platform Roam Community. “When connectivity is monopolized by a handful of centralized suppliers, the promise of blockchain can collapse in a single day,” he added.
The nationwide web and cell information providers outage affected about 13 million residents, in keeping with a September report from ABC Information. This marked the primary nationwide web shutdown underneath Taliban rule, following regional restrictions imposed earlier in September to curb on-line actions deemed “immoral.”
The Taliban denied the ban, blaming the web outage on technical points, together with fiber optic cable issues.
Iran has additionally been going through web censorship points because the begin of its battle with Israel.
The Iranian authorities shut down web entry for 13 days in June, aside from home messaging apps, prompting Iranians to hunt out hidden web proxy hyperlinks for short-term entry, The Guardian reported on June 25.
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$10 billion in Ethereum awaits exit as validator withdrawals surge
Ethereum recorded its largest validator exit on file this week, with greater than 2.4 million Ether price over $10 billion awaiting withdrawal from its proof-of-stake community, however institutional individuals are changing a lot of that within the validator entry queue.
Ethereum’s exit queue surpassed 2.4 million Ether price over $10 billion on Wednesday. The spike in exits prolonged the validator queue time to greater than 41 days and 21 hours, in accordance to blockchain information from ValidatorQueue.com.
Validators are liable for including new blocks and verifying transactions on the Ethereum community, enjoying a vital function in its operation.
“Giant withdrawals at all times imply there’s a likelihood that tokens might be bought, however it doesn’t essentially equal gross sales of tokens,” mentioned Nicolai Sondergaard, analysis analyst at crypto intelligence platform Nansen, including that “there is no such thing as a want for concern from this alone.”
Whereas the $10 billion withdrawal queue is critical, validators are almost definitely “consolidating from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH stakes for operational effectivity,” in keeping with Marcin Kazmierczak, co-founder of blockchain oracle firm RedStone.
This contains rising inflows into liquid staking protocols for improved “capital effectivity,” he instructed Cointelegraph, including:
“A big a part of withdrawn ETH is redeployed inside DeFi, not bought.”
“The 44+ day withdrawal wait time creates a pure throttle stopping provide shocks,” he defined, including that Ether’s day by day quantity of $50 billion remains to be 5 instances bigger than the validator queue.
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DeFi market overview
In line with information from Cointelegraph Markets Professional and TradingView, many of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization ended the week within the inexperienced.
The privacy-preserving Zcash (ZEC) token rose over 68% to turn out to be the week’s greatest gainer within the high 100 for the second week in a row. The Mantle (MNT) token rose over 18% within the week’s second-best efficiency.
Thanks for studying our abstract of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Be part of us subsequent Friday for extra tales, insights and schooling relating to this dynamically advancing house.
