Cryptocurrency markets confirmed indicators of consolidation within the second week of October, at the same time as buyers 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) obtained 31 crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF) functions, with 21 of them filed through the first eight days of October.
Nevertheless, the continuing government shutdown might gradual the regulatory response to those functions, because the SEC acknowledged that it’ll operate “beneath modified circumstances” 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 deal with transferred $360 million value of Bitcoin into decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Hyperunit’s sizzling pockets “bc1pd” on Tuesday. This marked their first switch in two months, according to blockchain knowledge 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 value of BTC into Ether, briefly surpassing the second-largest company treasury firm, Sharplink, by way of whole ETH holdings, Cointelegraph reported on Sept. 1.
The whale nonetheless held over $5 billion value of Bitcoin of their fundamental 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.
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 knowledge from DappRadar.
In a report despatched to Cointelegraph, DappRadar said 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 best total value locked (TVL) ever recorded within the area.
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 impression 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.
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 following world hub for crypto corporations.
Takaichi was elected chief of the Liberal Democratic Get together (LDP) on Saturday and is ready to change into Japan’s first feminine prime minister when she takes workplace on Oct. 15.
Specialists say her management might introduce a extra open stance towards technological experimentation, together with blockchain innovation, whereas sustaining Japan’s rigorous regulatory standards.
Takaichi’s election might have a “materials impression on the notion and governance of digital property throughout the nation,” in keeping with Elisenda Fabrega, normal counsel at tokenization platform Brickken.
In earlier public positions, Takichi has expressed assist for “technological sovereignty,” mentioning the “strategic improvement of digital infrastructure, together with blockchain expertise,” Fabrega informed Cointelegraph. “From a authorized perspective, this implies 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 area” 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,” stated Maarten Henskens, chief working officer at Startale Group and head of Astar Basis.
“A looser financial outlook beneath the brand new management might maintain liquidity and gas investor urge for food for various property, together with cryptocurrencies,” Henskens informed Cointelegraph.
“At Startale and Astar, we see this as a powerful setting to proceed advancing Japan’s Web3 ecosystem,” he added.
Afghanistan web blackout “a wake-up name” for blockchain decentralization
Afghanistan’s current nationwide web outage underscored a vital weak spot 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 individuals 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,” stated 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 cellular knowledge providers outage affected about 13 million residents, in keeping with a September report from ABC Information. This marked the primary nationwide web shutdown beneath 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 dealing with 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 momentary entry, The Guardian reported on June 25.
$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 value over $10 billion awaiting withdrawal from its proof-of-stake community, however institutional contributors are changing a lot of that within the validator entry queue.
Ethereum’s exit queue surpassed 2.4 million Ether value over $10 billion on Wednesday. The spike in exits prolonged the validator queue time to greater than 41 days and 21 hours, according to blockchain knowledge from ValidatorQueue.com.
Validators are chargeable for including new blocks and verifying transactions on the Ethereum community, enjoying a vital position in its operation.
“Giant withdrawals at all times imply there’s a probability that tokens will be bought, but it surely doesn’t essentially equal gross sales of tokens,” stated Nicolai Sondergaard, analysis analyst at crypto intelligence platform Nansen, including that “there isn’t any want for concern from this alone.”
Whereas the $10 billion withdrawal queue is important, validators are most 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 informed 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.
DeFi market overview
In response to knowledge from Cointelegraph Markets Pro 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 change into 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 a part of us subsequent Friday for extra tales, insights and training relating to this dynamically advancing area.
