Bitcoin price started Friday, October 1, at $84,000. Then, disappointing US jobs data and falling Fed rate-hike odds triggered a bullish rally for BTC, taking the token near $87,000.
However, Bitcoin now ends the day at the same price it started, adding and losing $50 billion in a single day. So, what caused this volatility?
According to a British maritime agency, Iran struck a massive oil tanker in Hormuz, making it the sixth tanker attack this week. Oil prices barely flinched, but crypto markets reacted heavily.
Bitcoin and Oil Prices Performance on Friday. Source: TradingViewHormuz Remains a Decisive Factor for MarketsUnited Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), the Royal Navy-run center that tracks threats to merchant ships, issued its warning on Friday.
A tanker’s master reported the hit at 11:22 UTC during an outbound transit. The impact sparked a small fire and knocked out power on board.
The crew put out the fire, and the ship kept moving. UKMTO reported no casualties or pollution.
The agency did not name the vessel or the attacker. Viral posts on X (Twitter) blamed Iran. UKMTO said only that authorities are investigating.
BREAKING: Iran has struck an oil tanker while it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz, according to the latest reports.
UKMTO says the vessel’s master reported being hit by a projectile, causing a small fire and a temporary blackout. The fire has since been extinguished, and the…
— The Iranian Letter (@TheIranianzg3z) October 2, 2026 A day earlier, the Kuwait-flagged supertanker Kazimah III caught fire after a similar strike. Vessels faced at least 16 attacks in the strait in September, according to Seatrade.
Why Oil Held Steady While Bitcoin FellBinance data shows the Bitcoin price rejected near $87,000 for the third time in two weeks, after tops on September 22 and 23.
Bitcoin Price Performance. Source: BeInCryptoCrude told a calmer story. US crude spot traded near $93.70 and Brent spot near $106.30, each up less than 0.25% on the latest candles.
Brent futures had already fallen 2.89% to $99.35 earlier Friday, according to The National. Reports that the European Union and International Energy Agency (IEA) members were weighing stockpile releases drove that drop.
“Renewed US military deployments to the region kept the risk premium alive,” said Daniel Richards, senior economist at Emirates NBD.
Those deployments are growing. Washington has sent two more Patriot missile batteries to Saudi Arabia and Qatar and is moving a third carrier strike group into the region, Axios reported.
President Donald Trump has also said he is weighing renewed bombing, a threat that has shadowed oil and Bitcoin markets for weeks.
Traders now face a test of whether Bitcoin can clear $87,000 while the strait remains under fire.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has commended El Salvador for advances in economic stability while expressing renewed caution over the government’s continued embrace of Bitcoin.
IMF approves new fundingOn Friday, the IMF authorized a $139 million disbursement to El Salvador. The approval is part of a broader $1.4 billion loan arrangement reached in December, intended to support economic reforms and fiscal consolidation in the country.
The disbursement comes with conditions. IMF officials confirmed efforts are underway to reduce the government’s exposure to Bitcoin-related activities, following concerns over the country’s Bitcoin strategy.
El Salvador, led by President Nayib Bukele, made headlines in 2021 by adopting Bitcoin as legal tender alongside the US dollar. The move, a first for any country, sparked unease among international financial institutions concerned about fiscal and monetary risks.
Ongoing Bitcoin debateDespite the IMF’s reservations, Bukele’s administration has continued to promote Bitcoin. According to statements from the country’s Bitcoin Office, El Salvador still purchases the cryptocurrency, contradicting IMF reports from September which said government Bitcoin accumulation had stopped.
President Bukele previously announced plans in 2022 to buy one bitcoin daily, but questions have lingered regarding the source of funds and the veracity of the purchases.
In its Friday statement, the IMF acknowledged that “economic activity has exceeded expectations, supported by sustained improvements in security and investor confidence, as macroeconomic imbalances continue to be addressed.”
“However, certain performance criteria were not met, including on the Bitcoin accumulation front, for which waivers were granted based on strong corrective measures and renewed commitments,” the IMF noted.
The fund further said it expects the government to refrain from additional Bitcoin accumulation, clarifying that “no further bitcoin accumulation is envisaged beyond the documented donations.”
Mini dictionary: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a global financial institution headquartered in Washington, D.C., that offers monetary cooperation and financial assistance to its member countries, promoting global economic stability.
Mixed adoption and public skepticismWhen Bitcoin was declared legal tender in El Salvador, citizens were given an initial allocation of the digital asset and access to a government-backed digital wallet. However, widespread everyday use of Bitcoin has not materialized, and uptake remains limited among the population.
President Bukele acknowledged in 2024 that most Salvadorans were not using Bitcoin for routine transactions but maintained that his administration stood by its investment approach, often noting the government’s ongoing accumulation of the crypto asset.
The IMF has cited these adoption trends and associated volatility as reasons for urging the Salvadoran government to scale back exposure to Bitcoin, emphasizing risk management and fiscal discipline as priorities.
YearIMF AnnouncementEl Salvador’s Bitcoin Activity2021Warned against Bitcoin legal tender planAdopted Bitcoin as legal tender2022Ongoing concern about Bitcoin risksBukele announced purchase of 1 BTC per day2024Praises economic security, warns on Bitcoin policyBukele admits limited population adoption2026Approves $139 million, urges reduced Bitcoin activitiesBitcoin accumulation to be limited to donationsEl Salvador’s approach to cryptocurrency policy remains unique among nations, as the government tries to balance international oversight with ongoing crypto initiatives.
El Salvador continues to receive international financial support even as the IMF encourages the government to limit Bitcoin endeavors to minimize macroeconomic risk.
Several Bitcoin [BTC] ETF funds began October with outflows. According to Onchain Lens, five funds recorded a combined $24 million in outflows on the 1st of October. However, strong inflows into three other funds more than made up for these losses.
BTC ETFs’ net inflow hit $102M amid mixed sentiment In September, Bitcoin spot ETFs experienced massive inflows. In fact, AMBCrypto reported an accumulation spree with net inflows surpassing $2.5 billion the week ending on the 25th of September.
This trend has continued into October, with prominent funds recording inflows.
Source: Sosovalue These inflows proved strong enough to turn daily flows positive. BlackRock’s IBIT saw $195 million in inflows, Grayscale’s GBTC recorded $14 million in inflows, and Morgan Stanley’s MSBT recorded $7 million in inflows.
For that reason, the daily net inflow rose to $102 million, marking a significant reversal from -$148 million recorded in the previous session.
With ETF inflows remaining resilient despite recent headwinds, investors appear to be aggressively seeking Bitcoin exposure through these funds.
Moreover, a look at past cycles shows that sustained ETF inflows have worked well for BTC price action.
Source: CoinGlass Exchange activity is also echoing the shift in ETF capital flow. Exchange Netflow has held positive since the 30th of September.
As ETFs resumed accumulating again, supply outflows from exchanges recovered. Spot Netflow fell to -$67 million as of writing, down from $353 million the previous day.
Any impact on BTC? On the 2nd of October, Bitcoin made a major upswing as BTC finally managed to flip $85k.
At press time, Bitcoin was trading around $86,272, up 3.3% on the daily charts. The recent upsurge could be attributed to renewed demand, especially driven by ETF and Uptober speculation.
For now, the market leans bullish based on the directional indicators. However, the momentum is relatively weak.
Source: TradingView For example, Aroon Up was hovering around 21%, having declined for eleven consecutive days. Moreover, if the capital inflow holds steady as recently witnessed, the trend will continue, with Bitcoin reclaiming $88k and eyeing $90k.
However, if the latest attempt fails to produce a daily close above $85k, the crypto is likely to revisit $82k.
Final summary Bitcoin climbed 3% to a weekly high of $86,912, then retraced to $86,272 at press time. BTC Spot ETFs recorded $102 million in daily Net Inflows, a reversal from -$148 million recorded the previous session.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
Overnight to this morning, U.S. employment data came in far below expectations: September added just 29,000 jobs, the unemployment rate rose to 4.2%, while July and August figures were revised down by around 60,000 jobs. Following the data, market expectations for a Federal Reserve (Fed) interest rate hike in October cooled further. Driven by the above data, all three major U.S. stock indexes rose on Friday: the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.49%, the S&P 500 gained 0.74%, and the Nasdaq climbed 1.19%. For individual stocks, according to BIT (bit.com) market data, SpaceX rose 7.35%, Tesla rose 4.65%, Dell rose 3.8%, Broadcom rose 3.35%, ASML rose 3.25%, and Nvidia rose 1.34% to hit another all-time high. Accenture fell 6.27%, and SanDisk dropped 3.79%. Meanwhile, Bitcoin briefly surged to $87,000 after the employment data release before pulling back, currently trading at $84,643.39, with a 0.7% decline in the past 24 hours.
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Three tokenized funds from Centrifuge have launched on the Arc network, covering US Treasuries and credit assets.
Centrifuge has confirmed that three funds—JAAA, JTRSY, and HYB—have launched on Circle’s Arc blockchain. The funds provide exposure to AAA-rated collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), short-term U.S. Treasuries, and high-yield corporate bonds respectively, utilizing investment strategies from Janus Henderson and New York Life Investment Management. All three funds support subscriptions via USDC on Arc, with direct investment limited to eligible non-U.S. professional investors. The minimum investment amounts are $500,000 for JAAA and JTRSY, and 100,000 USDC for HYB. (The Defiant)
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A whale that opened an ETH position a year ago is suspected of cutting its losses, with an estimated loss of $2.443 million.
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US SEC approves 3x Bitcoin, Ethereum, gold, silver, crude oil and natural gas ETPs
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Digital asset bank Anchorage Digital lays off 17% of its workforce.
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NEAR Intents: Hackers have fully returned the stolen funds, investigation to be halted.
Alex Shevchenko, head of NEAR Intents, posted on X that the $3.8 million in funds involved in the earlier attack has been fully returned, and the team will halt the related investigation. He called for vulnerability reports via the bug bounty program to avoid service disruptions. Earlier, Shevchenko said he had identified the attacker, demanding they return the funds to designated Bitcoin, BNB, Ethereum, and Solana addresses within 48 hours, noting the return window would close after that deadline.
Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) has pared gains from Friday morning trading, selling off $84,600 after a rally to $86,500 into a weaker-than-expected jobs numbers report.
Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) and XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) followed the reversal, with social sentiment flipping sharply negative, according to data provider Santiment.
How Negative Sentiment Has GottenSantiment flagged on X that ETH is down to 0.89 bullish comments per bearish comment across X, Telegram, Reddit, and other platforms, its lowest ratio since June 7.
XRP sits even lower at 0.67, its weakest reading since Aug. 17. A ratio below 1.0 means bearish commentary now dominates the conversation across crypto communities.
Santiment argues heavy pessimism like this can create a useful contrarian setup. When most traders already expect prices to fall, much of the panic selling may have already happened.
The firm’s social analysis has repeatedly shown that quiet fear tends to produce better entry conditions than obvious buy-the-dip excitement. This doesn’t guarantee a bounce, but the current mood sits far from the euphoria typically seen near local tops.
Why Dormant ETH Just Woke UpSantiment also flagged that long-dormant ETH moved on Sept. 30 at a scale not seen since early June, even as exchange balances barely budged.
Age consumed, a metric tracking how long moved coins sat untouched, hit 580 million token-days that day, roughly 9x the September weekday average and the highest since June 2.
Exchange supply rose about 18,000 ETH that day before falling roughly 21,000 the next, against the 5.9 million ETH currently held on exchanges.
For comparison, the last comparable spike on June 2 saw balances jump more than 140,000 ETH. Santiment notes it can’t yet confirm who moved these coins, since past spikes this size have often reflected wallet reshuffling rather than holders cashing out.
What the ETF Flows ShowXRP spot ETFs pulled in $4.07 million on Oct. 1, ending two sessions of zero net flows and pushing this week’s total inflows to $8.03 million according to SoSoValue.
Franklin led with $4.06 million, while Bitwise’s $3.18 million nearly offset outflows from Canary.
Ethereum ETFs told the opposite story, losing $55.37 million on Oct. 1 in a third straight outflow session, bringing combined withdrawals to $117.76 million.
That reversal followed six consecutive days of inflows, with Fidelity and Grayscale’s (NASDAQ:ETHE) leading the latest exits.
Where ETH and XRP Stand TechnicallyXRP is coiling inside a broadening wedge with price holding above every EMA. RSI at 57.53 shows steady, non-extended momentum.
Resistance: $1.60 (upper trendline) Support: $1.4671 (20-day EMA) Ethereum consolidates just below its recent breakout high, down slightly to $2,685, riding a multi-month ascending trendline near $2,634. RSI at 62.85 confirms healthy bullish momentum.
Resistance: $2,774 Support: $2,634 (20-day EMA and trendline) Photo via Shutterstock
Coinbase stock fell 3.32% to $183.00 on Friday, October 2, after an early rally approached $200. Shares were down $6.29 at 1:33 p.m. EDT, with trading still underway near the session’s lowest levels.
Bitcoin price traded near $85,709, Ethereum around $2,704, and XRP at $1.51 as the crypto market surged 1% over the past 24 hours.
US payrolls add just 29,000 jobs in September American employers added 29,000 positions in September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, falling well below expectations. Anticipated 90,000 additional jobs, highlighting the gap between forecasts and reported hiring.
Unemployment increased to 4.2% from 4.1%, while revisions removed 60,000 jobs from July and August estimates. September’s average hourly earnings increased 0.1%, bringing annual wage growth to 3.0%. More people entering the workforce also contributed to the increase in the unemployment rate.
BREAKING: Market expectations for an October rate hike fall to a new low 17% chance after the weaker than expected September jobs report.
Just days ago, markets saw a near 75% chance of an October rate hike.
We are seeing some insane volatility in the bond market. pic.twitter.com/TlenzaBFMD
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) October 2, 2026
Healthcare added 17,000 positions, while construction employment increased by 11,000 and manufacturing gained 9,000 jobs. The figures suggested modest hiring across several sectors rather than a broad employment expansion.
The weaker release reduced expectations for another October interest rate increase, although inflation remained central to the policy debate. A pause would leave borrowing costs unchanged rather than provide the stimulus associated with an interest rate cut.
Coinbase stock faces shifting Fed rate expectations October hike odds of 16% on Polymarket by 17% according to CME FedWatch. Polymarket’s probability had stood near 69% on Monday.
The repricing had already started before Friday, following softer inflation readings and cautious comments from Federal Reserve officials. Treasury yields initially declined before reversing higher, underscoring uncertainty over the next policy decision.
BREAKING: 🇺🇸 Fed rate hike odds just crashed to 16% after US unemployment rose and job growth badly missed expectations. pic.twitter.com/2M47401e0v
— Bull Theory (@BullTheoryio) October 2, 2026
For Coinbase stock, lower yields could improve appetite for companies exposed to speculative trading and digital assets.
Those competing influences leave the immediate outlook dependent on both market sentiment and the stock’s ability to stabilize. Coinbase stock lost ground even as traders reduced their expectations for another Federal Reserve rate increase.
Coinbase stock Prediction: Will COIN Reclaim $185? Based on Friday’s intraday trading, $185 represents the first potential recovery barrier after the sharp reversal erased gains. A sustained rebound above that area could bring the previous close of $189.29 back into consideration.
Coinbase stock Clearing the previous close would strengthen the case for a move toward $195, followed by the morning peak near $200.
COIN stock has potential support around $182, where the visible session lows formed. Holding that area could allow another recovery attempt, while a break would expose $180 as a psychological downside level.
Continued trading below $185 would leave the rebound vulnerable to further setbacks during the remaining session.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said in a post that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved 3x bull ETPs for Bitcoin, Ethereum, gold, silver, crude oil, and natural gas under the Securities Act of 1933.
Alex Shevchenko, head of NEAR Intents, posted on X that the $3.8 million in funds involved in the earlier attack has been fully returned, and the team will halt the related investigation. He called for vulnerability reports via the bug bounty program to avoid service disruptions. Earlier, Shevchenko said he had identified the attacker, demanding they return the funds to designated Bitcoin, BNB, Ethereum, and Solana addresses within 48 hours, noting the return window would close after that deadline.
Utexo has outlined an October launch for USDT on Bitcoin, with three planned services covering private transfers, direct BTC swaps, and Bitcoin-backed loans.
Summary
October is the planned mainnet launch window, with Lightning Network support planned for a later stage. Utexo says borrowers will be able to use native Bitcoin as collateral without wrapping their holdings. The proposed privacy model includes a blacklist for transaction outputs linked to sanctioned or illegal activity. Tether co-led Utexo’s $7.5 million funding round announced in March alongside two other investment firms. Utexo has secured a commercial license to issue USDT on Bitcoin and use its trademark for distribution to exchanges, wallets and payment providers, according to co-founder Viktor Ihnatiuk. The Tether-backed company plans to begin issuance in October.
Under the proposed rollout, Utexo will provide the software connections, developer tools and cloud services that other businesses need to offer Bitcoin-based USDT products. According to the company’s plans, the first deployment will use Bitcoin mainnet before support extends to Lightning, Bitcoin’s payment network.
USDT transfers would keep payment details off the public ledger Through RGB, Utexo plans to support stablecoin transfers in which participants check transaction information themselves, while ownership is tied to Bitcoin’s unspent transaction outputs. According to the project’s description, most payment information would remain outside Bitcoin’s public transaction record.
For users, the intended services cover sending USDT privately, exchanging native BTC directly for USDT, and borrowing against native Bitcoin. Utexo says the swap service would avoid routing the trade through an exchange, while its lending design would let borrowers retain Bitcoin on its existing network.
By accepting native BTC as collateral, the company’s proposed lending service would remove the need to first convert those holdings into a wrapped token on another blockchain. Utexo describes private payments, swaps and lending as separate uses for the same Bitcoin-based infrastructure.
According to the report, more than 450 businesses, including exchanges and wallet providers, have expressed interest in Utexo. The report also describes discussions involving larger financial institutions, while stating that the company has not confirmed partnerships.
Utexo’s privacy design includes restrictions on flagged outputs Within the proposed system, Utexo intends to maintain a list of transaction outputs associated with sanctioned or illegal activity and share it with exchanges and other service providers, according to Ihnatiuk.
His explanation distinguishes the proposed blacklist from freezing an address on Ethereum. Because RGB assets are tied to Bitcoin transaction outputs, he said, Utexo cannot freeze them through the same mechanism Tether uses for its Ethereum token.
Instead, the proposed restrictions would operate through services that accept, redeem, or move those assets. As described by the co-founder, a flagged output would become unusable for redemption through a bridge or minting service, or for withdrawal onto Ethereum or Tron.
According to the supplied report, the output-based approach would target the affected holdings rather than block every holding associated with an address. Utexo’s stated model combines confidential transaction information with restrictions applied to identified outputs.
Tether’s Bitcoin plans already have funding and RGB development behind them Before the October rollout plans, crypto.news covered Tether’s Utexo funding round on March 6. The company announced $7.5 million in seed financing co-led by Tether, Big Brain Holdings and Portal Ventures.
In its funding announcement, Utexo named Franklin Templeton, Maven11 Capital, Fulgur Ventures, Auros Ventures and Flow Traders among the participants. The company identified payment providers, exchanges, wallets and high-frequency trading firms as customers for its settlement infrastructure.
For those businesses, Utexo said its software would support merchant payments, payouts and cross-border transfers. The March announcement also described transaction fees that could be known in advance and paid in USDT, presenting predictable settlement costs as a feature of the planned service.
In August 2025, Tether had announced its Bitcoin RGB deployment plans. At the time, the issuer said RGB had reached mainnet with version 0.11.1 and would allow users to keep Bitcoin and USDT in the same wallet.
According to Tether’s original announcement, the planned functionality included private transfers and sending or receiving value offline. Ardoino described the proposed asset as “native, lightweight, private, and scalable.”
In September, the chief executive also pointed to USDT’s return to Bitcoin with a brief post on X:
“It’s coming home.”
Tether’s U.S. stablecoin uses a separate bank-issued route For Tether’s U.S.-focused stablecoin, Anchorage Digital has described a separate issuance arrangement involving USAT, rather than the USDT deployment planned through Utexo.
In coverage published Sep. 22, Anchorage’s USAT interoperability arrangement named LayerZero as its preferred partner for connecting bank-issued stablecoins across blockchain networks. The underlying Sep. 21 announcement identified USAT as the first Anchorage-issued token to launch with LayerZero’s OFT standard.
Anchorage Digital Bank, N.A. serves as USAT’s issuer, according to the bank’s announcement. The arrangement covers its stablecoin issuance platform, with LayerZero providing infrastructure for transferring supported assets between networks.
In its statement, Anchorage listed Ethereum, EVM-compatible networks and Solana among the ecosystems intended for future connections. The bank also named Western Union’s USDPT, OSL Group’s USDGO and Falcon Finance’s fUSD among the assets supported by its issuance platform.
For USDT’s earlier Bitcoin history, Tether has said Omni was the first transport layer it used in 2014. In its August 2023 notice, the issuer stopped minting USDT on Omni, Kusama, and Bitcoin Cash SLP.
Following community feedback, Tether revised its legacy-chain transition in August 2025. In that update, the company said it would discontinue direct issuance and redemption on five legacy networks, including Omni, while allowing holders to continue transferring existing tokens between wallets.
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Cross-chain protocol THORChain has activated a liquidity pool for Zcash (ZEC). All network validators successfully synced with the Zcash blockchain after a scheduled network churn.
The main result of the release is the launch of the first decentralized platform for direct, permissionless swaps between Bitcoin (BTC) and the native ZEC token, without intermediaries, KYC, or "wrapped" assets.
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THORChain announces the launch of the native Zcash (ZEC) liquidity pool, Source: THORChain via X.comDevelopers issued an immediate warning: the pool is still extremely shallow at launch, which creates a risk of significant price slippage on large orders.
How the integration closes a historic loop for Satoshi NakamotoThis integration effectively gives Bitcoin the very privacy feature it originally lacked. Back in 2010, Satoshi Nakamoto acknowledged the need for absolute privacy for BTC but sacrificed it in favor of transparent protection against double-spending.
In 2013–2014, cryptographers from Johns Hopkins University and MIT resolved this dilemma, demonstrating that zk-SNARKs (zero-knowledge proofs) could confirm the validity of transfers while fully concealing their details. Bitcoin Core developers did not adopt the architecture because of its complexity and the risks associated with a "trusted setup" ceremony.
The Zooko Wilcox team then forked Bitcoin's code and launched Zcash on October 28, 2016. It retained Bitcoin's monetary model in full—21 million coins, proof of work, and halvings — while adding shielded addresses (a shielded pool).
Today's THORChain release turns the two into natural complements: transparent BTC retains its status as a global reserve, while Zcash addresses the need for end-to-end on-chain privacy, realizing Satoshi's lost vision, according to proponents.
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The pool launch coincided with a major year-long shift in the positions of both assets:
Zcash (ZEC): Trading in the $1,330–$1,390 range, with a market capitalization of 23–24.5 billion (ranked 9th–10th). Over the past 12 months, the coin has risen by more than 1,000%, climbing from around $450 in September to a peak of $1,700, followed by a weekly correction of 8–14%. ZEC's share of Bitcoin's market capitalization has jumped from a negligible less than 0.1% to around 1.5%.Bitcoin (BTC): Stuck in the $85,000–$86,500 range, with a market capitalization of $1.72 trillion—about 28% below its October 2025 all-time high of around $126,000.Drivers and a shadow factor: The Grayscale Zcash ETF (ZCSH) has brought in regulated capital, despite a recent $30 million outflow. Meanwhile, the community approved $8.4 million in grants, and the Network Upgrade 7 (NU7) update is being tested on the testnet, with a move to 25-second blocks. At the same time, in late September, addresses linked to the $387 million Bitget exchange hack quickly transferred around $4 million in ZEC directly into the Orchard shielded pool.Cases of hackers laundering funds make THORChain's permissionless routes a sensitive issue for regulators, who have kept the protocol under scrutiny for a long time. Even so, the decentralized gateway is live, officially giving the market a tool for directly converting digital gold into absolute anonymity.
Core Lightning maintainers issued an urgent notice on October 2, 2026, telling operators of the open-source Bitcoin Lightning implementation to move off older builds after receiving reports that attackers are actively probing nodes that have not applied recent security updates.
In a post from the project’s official account, the team said anyone still running version 26.06.7 or anything earlier should install the current release as soon as possible.
Urgent security update: If you’re running version 26.06.7 or earlier, please upgrade to the latest release as soon as possible.
We’ve received reports that attackers are targeting unpatched nodes. Keeping your node up to date is an important step in protecting your funds. https://t.co/E9ggGJsIit
— Core Lightning ⚡️ (@Core_LN) October 2, 2026
The message stated that reports of targeting against unpatched nodes had already come in, and it framed routine upgrades as a practical step in safeguarding channel balances.
The notice did not name the flaws under attack, describe an exploit path, or confirm any loss of funds.
It pointed operators toward the latest published release rather than describing a temporary workaround.
The warning sits on top of a compressed security cycle that began in late summer.
In August 2026, Core Lightning said a surge of vulnerability reports, many of them machine-generated, had turned up real issues.
Maintainers shipped version 26.06.7 on August 28 with signed binaries and held the matching source back for about two weeks so operators could update before the changed code made the bugs easier to reconstruct.
Nodes that could not upgrade immediately were advised to restart with an offline flag that blocks peer traffic while the process continues to watch the Bitcoin chain and respond if a counterparty force-closes a channel.
Powering a node completely off was described as the weaker choice, because an offline machine cannot detect cheating attempts.
Mid-September brought a separate investigation into problems tied to experimental features that could affect user funds.
On September 22 the project published version 26.06.8, which it recommended for every node runner.
Unlike the prior point release, that update carried no embargo: the release and its fixes were available at once.
A small set of tests was still withheld for a time so the underlying issues would be harder to reverse-engineer while operators installed the software.
Release notes credited the Bitcoin Red Team, a list of named researchers, and anonymous reporters.
Public changelog descriptions of the September fixes refer to defects that could crash a sending node, requests capable of exhausting memory through the REST interface, and a channel-closing bug that could leave a user exposed to a penalty.
Separate reporting has also described a revoked-commitment path in which an old channel state might be broadcast without the usual penalty response.
Core Lightning has not said whether the attacks reported on October 2 map to any one of those issues.
The project’s own earlier posts stressed that keeping a node current is part of protecting funds, and the October notice repeats that stance under more urgent language.
Operators on Docker should also confirm image digests, because some images tagged as 26.06.7 between late August and early September reported the new version at startup without containing the corresponding fixes.
Those tags were later replaced.
Lightning nodes hold live payment channels outside the base chain, so a reachable, unpatched process can be messaged by peers.
The October advisory treats that exposure as active rather than theoretical and asks operators on 26.06.7 or older to upgrade without delay. Technical detail on what the attackers are using remains unpublished in the notice itself.
Core Lightning developers have urgently called on Bitcoin Lightning Network node operators to upgrade their software after confirming active attacks against unpatched versions. Developers revealed that attackers are currently targeting nodes running Core Lightning version 26.06.7 or earlier, exploiting vulnerabilities that put user funds and network stability at risk.
The identified flaws enable attackers to trigger various risks, such as loss of channel funds, forced node crashes, and memory exhaustion due to malicious requests. One vulnerability involves channel closure scenarios that can result in Bitcoin being lost through the network’s penalty mechanism. Other exploits allow attackers to destabilize nodes remotely or overload their memory by exploiting the REST interface.
After detecting the issues on September 16, Core Lightning, a development team focused on the Bitcoin Lightning Network protocol, released a patched version—26.06.8—on September 24. Certain diagnostic tests were deliberately withheld from public repositories to reduce the likelihood of attackers reverse-engineering the security improvements.
Bittylicious criticized the initial response to the threat, emphasizing that operators needed to realize “upgrading to version 26.06.8 was essential, not optional.”
Kevin, an operator and community member, warned that attackers are “actively hunting” unpatched nodes. He suggested that the risk is no longer hypothetical but now an immediate threat for operators who have not updated their systems.
Discussion among Lightning users shifted from the technical aspects of the patch to concerns about the potential for a broader attack campaign. Mokiry, another Lightning observer, questioned if the incident signaled deeper, recurring vulnerabilities in Lightning infrastructure.
Mini dictionary: Core Lightning is a leading implementation of the Lightning Network protocol for Bitcoin, focusing on scalability and security to facilitate fast, off-chain bitcoin payments.
Recurring Lightning Network security incidentsThe Bitcoin Lightning Network has a history of security incidents affecting node operators. In August 2026, Lightning Labs addressed an ‘update_fee’ exploit in the LND client, which allowed channel initiators to manipulate fees and potentially leave victims with unrecoverable funds. The issue was fixed in LND version 0.18.3-beta.
Another notable vulnerability, the LND Onion Bomb, was revealed in 2024. Attackers could exploit malicious onion data to trigger excessive memory use, resulting in denial-of-service conditions for nodes operating with versions earlier than 0.17.0-beta. The flaw was rated with a CVSS score of 7.5 out of 10, indicating high severity.
IncidentDateSoftware AffectedImpactPatched Version‘update_fee’ exploitAugust 2026LNDFee manipulation, fund loss0.18.3-betaOnion Bomb2024LND < 0.17.0-betaDenial of service, memory exhaustion0.17.0-betaREST interface & channel closure vulnerabilitiesSeptember 2026Core Lightning < 26.06.8Fund loss, memory exhaustion, crashes26.06.8As of May 30, 2026, the Lightning Network consisted of approximately 17,436 public nodes, 40,986 public channels, and held around 4,870.8 BTC in channel capacity. Failures at the node-software level could threaten the reliability of significant parts of Bitcoin’s payment ecosystem.
Industry response and ongoing investmentThe incident may prompt businesses and investors to place greater focus on operational security, robust software maintenance, and diversifying implementation strategies as they weigh further Lightning adoption. The speed at which node operators upgrade, along with the discovery of similar vulnerabilities in other Lightning implementations, will shape the network’s short-term resilience.
Tether emphasized the rapid growth in Lightning-based payment systems, noting that Speed processed more than $1.5 billion in annual payments, serving 1.2 million users and businesses.
Despite ongoing security issues, investment in Lightning payment infrastructure remains strong. Tether, the issuer of the stablecoin USDT, led an $8 million funding round in December 2025 for Speed, a company focused on global payment settlements using Bitcoin Lightning and stablecoins. Speed currently supports merchants, platform operators, and business clients processing large-scale payments.
Analysts expect that continued adoption and new capital inflows may further strengthen the importance of security for firms building on Lightning technology.
Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), and XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) are climbing together Friday as derivatives traders pile back into bullish positions ahead of the U.S. jobs report.
Why Traders Are Paying More for Bullish BetsCoinDesk reported Friday that Bitcoin open interest rose to roughly 653,000 BTC, worth $56.2 billion, up from 626,000 BTC on Sept. 30, a gain of about 4.3%.
Open interest tracks the total value of outstanding futures and perpetual contracts still open, and rising open interest alongside Bitcoin’s climb from $83,500 to $86,500 points to fresh positions helping fuel the move.
The perpetual funding rate jumped from roughly 3% to 10% over the same stretch, meaning traders holding long positions are now paying significantly more to stay long heading into Friday’s jobs data.
Two things are worth flagging:
Starting point matters: open interest sat near its lowest level in 12 months at the end of September, so this pickup starts from a low base Higher cost, higher risk: rising funding signals stronger bullish demand, but it also raises the cost of holding long positions and leaves leveraged traders more exposed if price reverses suddenly Crypto-linked stocks moved higher alongside the rally with Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) and Strive (NASDAQ:ASST) each gaining around 3% in premarket trading, while Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) and Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD) rose roughly 2%.
What the Long-Term Chart Targets Look LikeWidely-followed crypto analyst Ali Martinez posted a thread on X laying out potential cycle targets if each asset clears key resistance levels on its monthly chart:
Bitcoin — a break above its prior high near $125,000 could open the door toward $190,000 Ethereum — clearing resistance near $5,000 points toward a potential $8,800 target XRP — a monthly close above $3.66 would confirm an ascending triangle breakout with a projected target near $31.87 Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) — a close above the $295 neckline on a cup-and-handle pattern projects toward $2,744 Martinez was careful to frame these as potential targets contingent on confirmed breakouts, not guaranteed outcomes.
Why Falling Rate-Hike Odds Are Helping TooAs Benzinga reported, the 10-year Treasury yield pulled back to 5.25% after touching an intraday high of 5.34%, its highest level since April 2002.
Meanwhile, the probability of a Fed rate hike cooled to 24.9% from 37.6% the day before, according to CME FedWatch, giving risk assets more room to run.
Where BTC, ETH, and XRP Stand TechnicallyBTC is up 1.5% and holding above all EMAs with RSI at 68.50 nearing overbought. Resistance sits at $87,600, with support at $82,620.
ETH also climbs 1.5%, breaking out of its multi-month base with RSI at 66.83. Resistance sits at $2,774, with support at $2,637.
Meanwhile, XRP gains 3%, consolidating inside a broadening wedge with RSI at 60.41. Resistance sits at $1.60, with support at $1.47.
Bitcoin broke out of the $82,500–$85,700 range where it had been stuck for about a week, rising to $86,913. This level marks the highest price BTC has seen since September 23rd. Bitcoin has thus risen by approximately 14.6% from its low of $74,968 reached on September 15th.
QCP Capital noted that the rise was supported by spot market purchases rather than highly leveraged futures contracts. The fact that the annualized funding rate in perpetual futures contracts remained at 5.4 percent indicates that there was no excessive accumulation of long positions in the market.
However, the company argued that the fact that the rise was largely dependent on specific fund flows made the market structure fragile. Bitcoin’s strength, despite the rise in US 10-year Treasury yields to 5.29%, allowed BTC to diverge from gold and other macro assets.
From a technical perspective, $87,400 stands out as a key resistance point for September. Analysts believe that a break above this level could bring $90,000 into play. On the downside, the $82,500 support level, which has held three times in the last week, is of critical importance.
*This is not investment advice.
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The leading cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, got off to a strong start in October. After being stuck in the $82,000–$85,000 range at the end of September, BTC broke above this consolidation zone and rose to levels around $86,900.
At this point, the analytics company Makrovision shared its latest assessment of Bitcoin. According to this assessment, the company noted a significant improvement in BTC’s price movement and shared the critical levels to watch in the coming period.
The $82,500 Level is Critical, Must Be Closely Monitored! According to Makrovision’s analysis, Bitcoin has made a strong upward move after months of consolidation below the $65,500 level. The fact that the initial descending trend line was also broken during this move is considered a positive development from a technical perspective.
At this point, the analysis firm stated that following this breakout, the $82,500 level is critically important for Bitcoin’s short-term movement.
According to Makrovision, $82,500 is a key area for Bitcoin in the short term.
Noting that this level has been tested many times recently, the analysis firm stated that the more a support level is tested, the greater the likelihood of it being broken in the future.
However, it is stated that Bitcoin falling below $82,500 does not necessarily signify a negative picture in itself. According to the analysis, such a pullback could be a healthy correction following a strong upward movement.
At this point, it was stated that if Bitcoin falls below $82,500, the market’s attention may turn to the $75,000-$73,000 support zone, and these levels could be reached if the decline deepens.
$98,000 for Bitcoin is on the Agenda! Makrovision states that in an upward move, the $86,500 level is a critical hurdle to watch and is the next important threshold to be followed.
According to the analysis company, if Bitcoin strongly surpasses this level and maintains its position above it, the next major target could be $98,000.
In summary, the analysis firm points out that Bitcoin’s technical structure has strengthened compared to the previous period, and notes that the $82,500 and $86,500 levels could be decisive in the short-term outlook.
*This is not investment advice.
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The United States personal savings rate dropped to 4.1% in August 2026, its lowest level since November 2022, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
That decline now raises a pointed question: can Bitcoin serve as a hedge against shrinking household buffers?
What Does the Falling US Savings Rate Reveal About Household Finances?The personal savings rate measures the share of disposable income households set aside rather than spend. A falling rate signals families are draining reserves to maintain consumption levels.
August’s reading fell 0.5% from July. It has dropped 1.6 points since January 2025, based on Bureau of Economic Analysis data.
Excluding the 2022 inflation shock, this marks the lowest level since 2008. The five-year average now sits at 5.4%, the weakest in 14 years. That compares with roughly 6% before the pandemic. Persistent inflation in housing, food, and energy continues to squeeze household budgets nationwide.
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US Household Savings Fall to Their Lowest Level Since 2021. Source: X/@KobeissiLetterSpending remains relatively resilient for now, but that strength comes at a cost. Families increasingly rely on savings as their main cushion shrinks month after month.
For most Americans, this level means less room to absorb a job loss, a medical bill, or any other emergency expense. It leaves fewer households prepared for financial shocks heading into next year.
Could Bitcoin Work as a Hedge Against This Pressure?Bitcoin just posted its first fully green third quarter on record. It gained 42.71% as July, August, and September all closed positive individually. Even so, BTC still trades roughly 4% below its $87,498 starting price for 2026. It also remains about 34% below its record near $126,000.
That mixed picture complicates the hedge narrative. Fidelity’s Jurrien Timmer recently highlighted Bitcoin as a key portfolio diversifier beyond traditional stocks and bonds, alongside gold and commodities, as correlations between equities and bonds turn unusually positive.
Beyond the 60 (global equities) and the 20 (bonds) the main diversifiers (against both asset classes) are commodities, gold, Bitcoin, cash, alts (equity L/S, managed futures, absolute return) and leveraged loans. Note how the equity bucket is to the right of center and the bond… pic.twitter.com/XmZj55MJ4f
— Jurrien Timmer (@TimmerFidelity) October 2, 2026 Bitcoin remains volatile and often tracks technology stocks during risk-off periods. When households cut back on savings, demand for speculative assets can weaken too, at least in the short term. Regulatory and access barriers still limit its use as a true inflation hedge.
This savings decline signals broader financial fragility across much of the population. Bitcoin is not an automatic solution for struggling households, though it may fit within a diversified strategy for long-term investors.
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Trump’s support among voters aged 18 to 29 has fallen from 43% to 19%. Some young crypto investors dismiss his crypto projects as profit-driven schemes, criticizing the TRUMP meme coin for exploiting crypto-savvy backers. Morten Christensen, an investor holding large volumes of TRUMP tokens, stated that Trump’s reputation is weaker than it was during his presidential campaign. He noted that when attending the second meme coin event held at Mar-a-Lago this year, the online response was markedly different from that of the first event in May 2025. Trump’s financial records show he has generated at least $500 million from token sales via World Liberty Financial. The project issues the USD1 stablecoin, which is pegged to the U.S. dollar, and boasts a market cap exceeding $4 billion. (Bitcoin.com News)
Bitcoin could get more room to recover after U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by just 29,000 in September, well below forecasts, adding to expectations that the Federal Reserve may hold interest rates steady at its October meeting.
Summary
US nonfarm payrolls rose by just 29,000 in September, well below forecasts, while unemployment edged up to 4.2%. The weak jobs report strengthened expectations that the Federal Reserve could pause rate hikes in October, with Treasury yields remaining a key factor for Bitcoin. Bitcoin was trading near $86,000 around the payroll release after recovering from roughly $83,000, putting the $87,000 to $87,500 resistance area back in focus. Spot Bitcoin ETF demand could help support the recovery, though recent on chain data showed new spot demand had weakened despite strong trend readings. A break above $87,500 could bring higher targets back into focus, while $82,000 remains an important support area if the post payroll recovery fades. According to Reuters, payrolls rose by 29,000 last month after August’s gain was revised down to 133,000 from the 162,000 initially reported. Economists surveyed by the news agency had expected 90,000 new jobs. The unemployment rate edged up to 4.2% from 4.1%.
The weak headline arrived at a sensitive point for Bitcoin. BTC had already climbed past $85,000 before the release as traders cut expectations for another immediate Fed rate hike, while short sellers closed positions during the move.
Bitcoin was trading toward $86,000 in the hours leading up to the jobs report, leaving the market within reach of the $87,000 to $87,500 area that has repeatedly limited gains over the past two weeks.
A weaker labor market could give the Fed another reason to wait after raising its benchmark rate by 25 basis points in September. For Bitcoin, the immediate question is whether lower rate expectations can pull Treasury yields down enough to ease some of the macro pressure that has repeatedly interrupted its recent rallies.
Weak payrolls strengthen the case for an October Fed pause Expectations for an October pause had already been building before the payroll release.
Federal Reserve Vice Chair Philip Jefferson said on Oct. 1 that future policy changes should depend on incoming economic data, the outlook and the balance of risks following September’s rate increase.
As crypto.news previously reported, markets had reduced the probability of another October hike to around 25% before the latest employment numbers, with attention increasingly moving toward December.
September’s payroll miss gives traders another piece of data to consider before the Fed’s Oct. 27 to Oct. 28 meeting.
Bitcoin has been sensitive to changes in those expectations because Treasury yields have remained elevated. The 10 year Treasury yield climbed above 5.34% on Oct. 1 before easing toward 5.25% as investors reassessed the likelihood of another immediate rate hike.
High yields have been one of the main obstacles for BTC during its recent recovery. Bitcoin moved above $87,000 in September but later fell toward $83,000 as bond yields rose and the dollar strengthened.
A sustained fall in yields following the employment report could remove some of that pressure. The effect would be less clear if bond yields rebound as traders turn their attention back to inflation and the possibility of another Fed move later this year.
Bitcoin price still needs to clear $87,500 The payroll miss comes as Bitcoin approaches a price area that analysts were already watching before the report.
Bitcoin’s October price outlook identified $87,500 as the main upside level that BTC would need to reclaim for the current recovery to gain more ground.
Bitget Wallet research lead Lacie Zhang told crypto.news that a break above $87,500 could raise the likelihood of a short squeeze and open a path toward $95,000. Her October range placed Bitcoin between $78,000 and $95,000, depending on institutional demand, inflation and interest rate conditions.
The downside levels remain relevant if the initial reaction to payrolls fades.
Zhang identified $82,000 as an important support level, with a liquidation area between roughly $82,000 and $82,500. A sustained move below $80,000 would invalidate her seasonal bullish setup.
Bitcoin’s move into the jobs report has already involved short covering. BTC reclaimed $85,000 before the employment numbers were published, meaning part of the rally came from traders closing bearish positions.
Short sellers have to buy back exposure when they close positions, creating buying pressure that can push the price higher without necessarily bringing in investors willing to hold Bitcoin for a longer period.
The next test is whether spot demand remains after that forced buying fades.
Bitcoin ETF demand could support the rally U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs provide another source of demand as BTC tries to break through its recent highs.
The funds recorded roughly $2.39 billion in net inflows during the week ended Sept. 25, with all five trading sessions finishing in positive territory. Daily inflows reached $999 million on Sept. 21 before slowing later in the week.
Institutional demand remained present even as Bitcoin struggled to hold its September move above $87,000.
The relationship between ETF demand and price is not automatic. Strong fund subscriptions can be absorbed by sellers, while a rally driven mainly by short covering can lose momentum once bearish positions have been closed.
Recent on chain data point to a similar split.
CryptoQuant’s Bitcoin Bull Score reached 90 out of 100 following the September breakout, while its apparent demand measure contracted by roughly 170,000 BTC over the preceding 30 days.
Bitcoin traded near $83,300 on Sept. 30 after reaching around $87,400 during the earlier rally.
The difference between strong trend readings and weaker new spot demand leaves ETF flows particularly relevant following the jobs report. Continued fund inflows while Bitcoin holds above $85,000 would provide a different source of buying from the short covering that helped drive the latest move.
Treasury yields could decide whether Bitcoin holds the payroll boost Bitcoin’s reaction to the payroll report will depend partly on what happens in the Treasury market.
The 10 year yield had already become a recurring pressure point before Friday’s employment figures. It reached around 5.2% on Sept. 24 while Bitcoin retreated from above $87,000 toward $84,000, then moved above 5.3% as BTC struggled to regain its highs.
Lower yields after the weak payroll report would fit with traders expecting the Fed to wait longer before raising rates again.
Bitcoin does not necessarily rise every time employment data weaken, however. A substantial deterioration in the labor market can hurt demand for risk assets even when bond yields fall, while renewed inflation concerns could keep longer term borrowing costs elevated despite softer employment.
September’s payroll number may face another complication. Reuters reported that economists viewed seasonal adjustment effects, including the timing of Labor Day, as a possible reason for some of the weakness. Initial jobless claims have remained low, providing little evidence so far of widespread layoffs.
For BTC, the bond market’s response therefore provides another test of how investors are interpreting the report.
A continued retreat in the 10 year yield alongside Bitcoin holding above $85,000 would keep attention on the $87,000 to $87,500 resistance area. A return toward recent yield highs could again put pressure on the cryptocurrency even if expectations for an October Fed hike remain low.
What to watch for Bitcoin next Bitcoin’s first test is the $87,000 to $87,500 area, where the September rally previously stalled. A sustained move through $87,500 would put the $95,000 scenario identified by Zhang back into focus.
On the downside, $82,000 remains the main level highlighted by analysts entering October, with $80,000 sitting below it as another threshold if the post payroll move reverses.
Treasury yields remain another key part of the setup. Bitcoin has repeatedly struggled when the 10 year yield moved above 5%, making the direction of bond markets after the payroll report relevant to whether the latest recovery can hold.
ETF flows will provide a separate reading on demand. Continued positive flows would show that institutional buying remains active after the employment release, while weakening flows combined with falling open interest could indicate that much of the latest price move came from traders closing short positions.
The next major U.S. macro test comes with September CPI on Oct. 14. Inflation remains above the Fed’s target, leaving policymakers with another major data release before deciding whether September’s rate hike should be followed by another move.
Bitcoin’s immediate range remains defined by $82,000 on the downside and $87,500 on the upside as traders assess whether the payroll miss can turn lower expectations for an October rate hike into sustained demand for BTC.
Bitcoin price has climbed roughly 3% and briefly crossed $87,000 on Oct. 2 as weak U.S. jobs data reinforced expectations for an October Federal Reserve pause while a wave of short liquidations added fuel to the move.
Summary
Bitcoin climbed roughly 3% and briefly crossed $87,000 after US September payroll growth came in well below forecasts. The weak jobs report strengthened expectations that the Federal Reserve could leave interest rates unchanged at its October meeting. Bitcoin short liquidations topped $120 million over 24 hours as BTC moved through $85,000 and forced bearish traders out of leveraged positions. US spot Bitcoin ETFs recently recorded $2.39 billion in weekly inflows, providing another source of demand as BTC recovered. Bitcoin faces resistance around $87,500, while $90,000 is the next major psychological level if buyers push through the recent highs. According to CoinGecko data, Bitcoin traded around $86,300 at press time after reaching an intraday high above $87,000, recovering from levels below $84,000 earlier in the day. Trading volume rose as BTC returned to an area last tested during its September rally.
The move gathered pace after U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by just 29,000 in September, far below the 90,000 jobs expected by economists. Unemployment rose to 4.2% from 4.1%, while August payroll growth was revised down to 133,000 from an initially reported 162,000.
Bitcoin had already started moving higher before the employment report, but the weaker reading gave traders another reason to expect the Fed to leave interest rates unchanged later this month. At the same time, the move through $85,000 forced bearish positions out of the market.
Weak jobs data supports Bitcoin price The latest employment numbers arrived after expectations for another October rate hike had already fallen.
As crypto.news previously reported, October rate hike odds had dropped to 23% on Polymarket by Oct. 1, compared with roughly 70% a week earlier. Federal Reserve Vice Chair Philip Jefferson said policymakers may need more time before making another change to rates.
The Fed raised its target range by 25 basis points to 3.75% to 4% in September.
September’s weaker payroll reading gives policymakers another labor market data point to consider before their Oct. 27 to Oct. 28 meeting. Bitcoin has faced pressure from higher borrowing costs in recent weeks, particularly as the 10 year Treasury yield climbed above 5%.
The effect was visible earlier this week when Bitcoin traded around $83,500 while the 10 year Treasury yield rose to around 5.20%. BTC had previously reached roughly $87,400 before giving back most of that move.
Short liquidations push BTC toward $87,000 Part of today’s rally has come from traders being forced out of bearish positions as Bitcoin moved through a cluster of sell orders around $85,000.
Bitcoin short liquidations topped $120 million over 24 hours as BTC approached $87,000, according to CoinGlass data cited in market reports. Futures open interest rose by roughly $2.3 billion during the move, showing that traders were putting new positions into the market while existing shorts were being closed.
The move through $85,000 was particularly important for positioning because the area had acted as a barrier during the previous pullback.
Bitcoin fell toward $83,000 on Sept. 29 after reaching around $87,400 earlier in the month. CoinGlass data at the time showed a concentration of liquidation exposure around $85,500.
When Bitcoin moved back through that area on Oct. 2, traders betting on lower prices were forced to buy BTC to close leveraged positions. The resulting orders added to the buying already taking place in the market.
Derivatives have played a sizable role in Bitcoin’s recent moves. A CryptoQuant Bull Score analysis showed that futures open interest rose during September’s rally even as apparent spot demand weakened by roughly 170,000 BTC over 30 days.
Bitcoin ETF demand remains in the background Institutional buying through U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs has remained another source of demand despite BTC’s recent swings.
The funds attracted $2.39 billion in one week between Sept. 21 and Sept. 25, recording net inflows during all five trading sessions.
Monday brought in $999 million, followed by $714.7 million on Tuesday. Daily inflows then eased to $346.9 million, $190.7 million and $134.5 million over the following three sessions.
BlackRock’s IBIT accounted for approximately $1.16 billion of the weekly total, while Fidelity’s FBTC received $701.6 million.
Fund demand has recovered considerably since the middle of the year. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs had recorded roughly $5.8 billion in net outflows for 2026 by July 13, before subsequent inflows pushed their year to date total back into positive territory by late September.
Bitfinex analysts cautioned on Sept. 30 that stronger spot demand would still be needed for another sustained advance, particularly as leverage declined and ETF inflows slowed from their strongest September sessions.
Bitcoin price faces another test near $87,500 Bitcoin’s return above $87,000 brings the cryptocurrency back to the same area that stopped its previous rally.
Lacie Zhang, research lead at Bitget Wallet, previously identified $87,500 as the main upside level to watch during October. Her projected monthly range placed Bitcoin between $78,000 and $95,000, depending on institutional demand, inflation and interest rate conditions.
A move through $87,500 could open a path toward $95,000, Zhang said, while institutional purchases would need to absorb selling from long term holders and miners for the rally to continue.
On the downside, Zhang identified $82,000 as an important support level, with a liquidation area sitting between roughly $82,000 and $82,500. A sustained move below $80,000 would invalidate her bullish seasonal setup.
Bitcoin’s next U.S. macro test is scheduled for Oct. 14 with the release of September consumer inflation data, giving Fed officials another major economic reading before their October policy meeting.
Bitcoin buyers have removed a major sell wall at $85,000, reducing near-term resistance as the market’s attention increasingly shifts toward the next halving and institutional flows. According to recent order book data, the absorption of sell orders on Binance marks an important shift in short-term market structure.
Bitcoin’s Halving Cycle Shapes Market NarrativeThe fifth Bitcoin halving is estimated to occur around April 2028 at block 1,050,000, halving the block subsidy from 3.125 BTC to 1.5625 BTC. This event will slow the introduction of new Bitcoin into circulation. Historical cycles show that buying 500 days before and selling 500 days after each halving has produced strong returns in previous eras, although outcomes have varied.
Bitcoin completed four halvings since 2012, with the next event’s date largely dependent on the pace of block production. Analysts such as CryptoGoos continue to monitor performance data from these 1,000-day windows, while platforms like Bitbo offer detailed tracking of similar models. However, analysts caution that historical patterns do not guarantee future results, especially as new market participants drive changes in supply and demand.
The rising influence of spot Bitcoin ETFs represents a new dynamic in this cycle. These products open participation to a wider range of investors and could amplify the market impact of the programmed reduction in BTC supply during the next halving.
BTC’s on-chain performance between halving cycles has generated considerable interest, with variations in returns reflecting changing market and liquidity conditions from one era to the next.
Institutional Flows Boost Demand via BlackRock ETFInstitutional interest in Bitcoin remains strong, highlighted by single-day inflows of $195.57 million into BlackRock’s ETF, as reported by Whale Insider. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, known as IBIT, has provided traditional investors with new ways to access Bitcoin exposure, further diversifying market demand.
Glassnode research indicates that US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded approximately $1 billion in net inflows on two consecutive days in late September, before inflows slowed as the market moved sideways. The firm noted the importance of consistent inflows across several sessions to assess the durability of institutional demand.
The emergence of ETFs as a major market entry point for large investors means that both programmatic supply reductions and regulated product flows are likely to influence Bitcoin price trajectories.
Short-Term Resistance Clears as $85K Sell Wall FadesBuyers on Binance have effectively absorbed a significant sell wall between $85,000 and $85,500, an area identified as one of the market’s notable resistance levels according to Glassnode analytics. With these sell orders removed, less resting supply sits immediately above the spot market, altering the dynamic for future advances.
Glassnode’s latest market report states that Bitcoin’s True Market Mean remains near $77,200, and the short-term holder cost basis stands close to $73,300. Bitcoin continues to trade above both metrics, setting these values as reference points in the event of another pullback.
The firm observed that while overhead resistance has eased, trading volumes are subdued, suggesting that any sustained move upward would require greater market participation beyond the recent thinning of sell-side liquidity.
Recent buy-side activity above $85,000 reduces resistance and changes the order book dynamic, but broader volume will be essential for more significant upward movement.
Meme Token Activity and Technical Market MonitoringAs technical analysts monitor price consolidation between $84,000 and $86,000 and potential breakout formations, parallels emerge in other volatile corners of crypto. In the meme token sector, rapid internet-driven trends can drive multi-million-dollar trades virtually overnight.
Fomo App data highlights a notable case where a “Niu Lai” token trade turned a $99 investment into $370,000. This underscores the importance of tracking not only price levels but also investor behavior and timing. Fomo App aggregates token discovery, trading tools, social features, investor rankings, and trade notifications in a single service, allowing for closer observation of meme token momentum and investor strategies.
BTC’s Position Relative to Equities and On-Chain IndicatorsBitcoin has regained strength relative to the S&P 500, with Glassnode reporting that daily sessions where BTC outperforms the index rose above 50% in late September. This marks a recovery from June, when that figure fell to its lowest level in six years. The move signals renewed asset-specific demand, but analysts note that a persistent trend will be needed to confirm BTC’s independent momentum.
On-chain valuation metrics remain in focus as well. CryptoQuant analyst TraderGemin notes that Bitcoin’s MVRV Z-Score stands above its 365-day moving average. This indicator compares current market value to realized value and, when above the yearly average, suggests long-term support for the market structure. A drop below this threshold could challenge current trends, so it remains an important reference for technical outlooks.
Outlook: What’s Next for Bitcoin’s Price?Bitcoin’s outlook hinges on interactions between enduring narratives—such as the 2028 halving and ETF adoption—and nearer-term shifts like the recent clearing of the $85K sell wall. Analysts and traders continue to watch whether increased spot-market volumes or further institutional inflows will provide momentum for a durable advance toward higher ranges, especially as technical signals around $90,000 attract attention.
If institutional flows strengthen and volumes increase, Bitcoin could resume its uptrend. Conversely, a loss of on-chain support or weakening participation from large buyers could curtail recent gains. With the next halving approaching and market structure evolving, a combination of liquidity trends, investor behavior, and technical milestones will shape Bitcoin’s price path in the coming months.
SBI Holdings completed its acquisition of Japanese crypto exchange Bitbank on October 1, making it a wholly owned subsidiary, the Tokyo-listed group said. Bitbank bought back the shares held by its two largest corporate backers, MIXI and Ceres, in the final step of a deal valued at about ¥46.7 billion ($289 million). The combination folds Bitbank into SBI’s crypto business and creates Japan’s largest exchange platform by custodied assets, with roughly ¥1.1 trillion ($7 billion) under custody across about 2.92 million accounts.
A staged deal closes with a buyback SBI first agreed to acquire Bitbank in June, planning a transaction carried out in stages. The final step was the repurchase of treasury shares: Bitbank bought back all shares held by MIXI and Ceres, retiring the last outside positions and leaving SBI as the exchange’s sole parent. Bitbank continues under CEO Noriyuki Hirosue, and the company has said the change will not affect its existing services.
Scale that reshapes Japan’s market Bitbank brings a Financial Services Agency license, a spot exchange listing dozens of crypto assets against the yen, and coin-lending and custody services into SBI’s existing crypto operations. SBI said in June the combined platform would hold about ¥1.1 trillion under custody across roughly 2.92 million accounts, enough to rank first among Japan’s licensed operators. Bitbank itself serves roughly 960,000 registered users, and its yen-quoted altcoin liquidity is among the deepest in the country. The deal extends a multi-year consolidation streak: SBI VC Trade absorbed TaoTao in 2020, took on DMM Bitcoin accounts after a 2024 hack, and in July took a majority stake in Singapore’s Coinhako. Analysts at Architect Partners named bitFlyer, the last large independent Japanese exchange, as an obvious next target.
Regulation drives the wave Japan is shifting crypto assets under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, with legislation that would cut the tax on crypto gains to a flat 20%. Those changes raise compliance costs for smaller standalone exchanges, pushing financial groups to consolidate scale. SBI has also built exchange infrastructure abroad, including in July when it led a $76 million round for EDX Markets. The group has separately become the domestic distribution platform for Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin, deepening its push beyond trading into payments. SBI said the transaction’s impact on results for the year ending March 2027 would be minor.
AUTHOR
A freelance writer with a passion for crypto, delivering insightful and accurate content on blockchain and fintech. With a knack for translating complex concepts into accessible content, Eric produces well-researched articles, blog posts, and thought leadership pieces that cover the latest trends and developments in the digital finance space. His writing is aimed at educating and engaging both newcomers and industry experts, offering fresh insights into the world of cryptocurrencies, decentralized finance (DeFi), and blockchain innovations. Eric’s dedication to quality and accuracy makes him a trusted voice in the fintech and crypto communities
Spot silver has fallen below the $60 threshold, currently trading at $59.916.
According to Bitget's market data, spot silver has fallen below the key psychological threshold of $60 per ounce, currently trading at $59.916, down 1.75% on the day.
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Bitcoin surged back above the $87,000 level on Friday. The sudden price spike has been driven by a surprisingly weak U.S. jobs report. The latest macro data has put a significant dent in expectations for another Federal Reserve rate hike this month.
The flagship cryptocurrency jumped from roughly $86,000 to an intraday high near $87,250, CoinGecko data shows.
The U.S. economy added just 29,000 jobs in September. For comparison, analysts were expecting as many as 90,000 new positions. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate rose to 4.2% from 4.1%, which was also unexpected.
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A cooling labor market is bullish for Bitcoin, given that it makes it more challenging for the Federal Reserve to justify further monetary tightening.
A major surprise The Bureau of Labor Statistics initially reported that the economy had added 162,000 jobs in August. However, that figure has now been revised down to 133,000.
It turns out that the U.S. economy actually lost 10,000 positions that month in September following the latest revision. Revisions for July and August erased 60,000 previously reported jobs.
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This means that the U.S. economy added an average of only about 51,000 jobs per month between July and September.
Healthcare remained one of the few sources of employment growth. Construction added another 11,000 jobs. Financial-sector employment, however, declined by 7,000.
Average hourly earnings increased just 3% from a year earlier. Cooling wage growth means lower inflationary pressure.
Rate hike expectations plunge As reported by U.Today, the central bank raised its benchmark rate by 25 basis points in September to the 3.75%-4.00% range. This was notably the first increase in three years, and monetary tightening, of course, does not bode well for cryptocurrencies.
The Fed remained laser-focused on reaching the 2% inflation target, so there was a rather high possibility of another increase. This was one of the main sources of selling pressure for Bitcoin.
As reported by U.Today, the rate hike odds started plunging rapidly earlier this week due to a surprisingly soft inflation report and New York Fed President John Williams pouring cold water on the necessity of further tightening.
The probability of an October hike is now 20% after the latest jobs report, according to the latest futures data.
Still, the Fed is expected to announce another hike in December, so this is merely a postponement.
It remains to be seen whether Bitcoin will be able to convincingly surge above the $87,000 level.
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El Salvador will receive an additional $138 million from the IMF despite a gap related to its commitments on Bitcoin. The institution approved the second and third reviews of its financing program and granted several waivers to the country. The BTC file remains under surveillance. The IMF still wants to reduce the direct involvement of the State in crypto.
In Brief The IMF immediately releases about $138 million to El Salvador. Some program criteria were not met, notably regarding Bitcoin. The IMF no longer expects BTC accumulation beyond already documented donations. Bitcoin Does Not Prevent the $138 Million Payment The IMF’s board approved on October 1 the second and third reviews of El Salvador’s program. This decision releases 101.96 million SDRs, about $138 million. The funding is part of a much broader deal. In February 2025, El Salvador had obtained a 40-month program granting access to about $1.4 billion.
Bitcoin was already among the sensitive conditions. The country had committed to limiting the public accumulation of BTC and reducing the State’s involvement in its crypto ecosystem. However, the IMF now acknowledges that some performance criteria were not met, notably those concerning Bitcoin accumulation.
This is not the first time. Last year, El Salvador was already accused of circumventing certain IMF rules on Bitcoin. This time, Washington does not block the funding. The IMF granted waivers after reviewing corrective measures taken by the authorities and their new commitments. Therefore, $138 million will be available immediately.
The New Bitcoins Would Come from Private Donations The issue remains complicated by an apparent contradiction. El Salvador’s official wallets continued to show more bitcoins even though the country had committed to limiting their accumulation with public resources.
In September, the IMF provided an explanation. The government reportedly gave documents showing that the bitcoins added since the first review came from private donations. No public money was used to finance these new entries.
This distinction matters in the program’s context. The IMF does not just ask to look at how many BTC appear in wallets. It mainly seeks to limit the direct financial exposure of the public sector.
El Salvador already displayed about 7,687 BTC in June despite pressure from the institution. This reserve had continued to increase over the months. The IMF now seems to accept the donation explanation for the already documented bitcoins. But the margin remains narrow. Its October 1 press release specifies that no further accumulation is planned beyond these donations.
The IMF Still Wants to Reduce State Exposure The $138 million disbursement does not mean the disagreement around Bitcoin is gone. The IMF continues to ask El Salvador to reduce the State’s involvement in BTC-related activities. The transfer of the majority of the capital and operational control of the Chivo wallet to a private operator is among the progress praised by the institution. The leftover public exposure still needs to be removed.
The IMF also demands more transparency regarding the public sector’s crypto holdings as well as strengthened regulation and supervision of digital asset service providers. The rest of the program advances better. Reserve and liquidity targets have been exceeded. The IMF forecasts real GDP growth for El Salvador of 4.5% in 2026, then 4% in 2027.
Bitcoin remains a point of friction, but not a sufficient obstacle to suspend financing. El Salvador obtains its $138 million. In exchange, the IMF maintains its stance: less Bitcoin directly linked to the State, more transparency, and no new accumulation beyond already documented donations. Perhaps this is how the IMF finally hopes to curb the rush it fears.
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Evans S.
Fascinated by Bitcoin since 2017, Evariste has continuously researched the subject. While his initial interest was in trading, he now actively seeks to understand all advances centered on cryptocurrencies. As an editor, he strives to consistently deliver high-quality work that reflects the state of the sector as a whole.
DISCLAIMER
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.
The price of bitcoin surged above $87,000 on Friday morning in New York, buoyed by constant exchange-traded fund flows and a jobs report showing that unemployment in the U.S. had ticked up.
Bitcoin’s price recently stood at $85,990 after a 2% jump over a 24-hour period. Over the past week, it has also risen by more than 2%.
Nonfarm payrolls increased 29,000 last month after a downward revision to the prior two months, Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed Friday.
Weaker-than-expected jobs data can give a lift to riskier assets like bitcoin and stocks, whose prices tend to swing more sharply.
A softer labor market typically means less consumer spending, which eases pressure on prices. That could make the Federal Reserve less inclined to keep raising interest rates to fight inflation.
Many economists and politicians have said the U.S. is in the midst of an affordability crisis, and the topic is a hot one ahead of the November midterm elections.
The Federal Reserve’s new chair, Kevin Warsh, has said that prices in the world’s biggest economy are too high and that the central bank is fully focused on making life more affordable again.
Bitcoin investors shrugged off the central bank’s interest rate hike in September, climbing on the news.
The largest cryptocurrency started rallying in August on news that the U.S. Treasury Department said it would more than double the size of its government debt repurchases. The coin had its best run in three years and third best August ever.
The coin’s price has benefited from the so-called debasement trade: when investors buy certain assets to hedge against currency being devalued. The dollar slid in value in August.
It continued to have a good September, rising nearly 6% over a 30-day period.
October has historically delivered good returns for bitcoin investors, with traders dubbing the phenomenon “Uptober.”
Mathew Di Salvo
Mathew is a reporter who's covered the space since 2019, reporting on everything from Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele's Bitcoin bet to crypto exchange FTX's bankruptcy.
More than $500 million has flowed into Morpho on Arc in just over two weeks since the network went live.
Arc is Circle’s EVM-compatible Layer-1, and Morpho was wired in as its core credit layer from day one.
The numbers behind the milestone Arc’s public mainnet launched on September 16, 2026. Morpho went live the same day, which meant lenders and borrowers could start moving capital immediately.
Launch day alone pulled in somewhere between $150 million and $220 million in initial deposits. Most of that landed in USDC and EURC markets, Circle’s dollar and euro stablecoins.
By October 2, 2026, total deposits on Morpho’s Arc deployment reached $500.27 million. Outstanding loans stood at $189.93 million on the same date.
The activity is far from evenly spread. The cirBTC/USDC market accounted for approximately 86% of lending and borrowing on the platform.
cirBTC is Circle’s Bitcoin-backed wrapped token. A cirBTC/USDC market lets someone post Bitcoin exposure as collateral and borrow dollars against it.
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That market has been running at near-full utilization. Nearly all the USDC lenders have supplied there is already borrowed.
Who is actually depositing Deposits were heavily driven by institutional lending rather than individual users chasing yield.
The vault lineup reflects that. Morpho’s curated vaults on Arc are run by names including Steakhouse Financial and Bitwise, firms that pick which markets a vault lends into and how much risk it takes.
Top vaults on Arc include ones from Galaxy and Keyrock, yielding about 0.80% net APY.
The underlying engine is Morpho Blue, which supports variable-rate lending and borrowing.
Background: Circle builds its own rails Arc is Circle’s attempt to own more of the stack that its stablecoins run on. The network emphasizes stablecoin payments, foreign exchange, and tokenized assets.
Arc’s validator set also includes backing from major institutions like BlackRock and Visa.
Morpho itself is not new to scale. Its broader network held $16.54 billion in total deposits as of early October 2026.
Against that figure, Arc’s $500.27 million is a small slice, roughly 3% of the total.
What this means With approximately 86% of activity tied to a single cirBTC/USDC market, Arc’s lending story is currently a Bitcoin-collateral story.
Near-full utilization raises practical questions. When a lending market is almost entirely borrowed, lenders looking to exit may have to wait for borrowers to repay or for new deposits to arrive.
Variable rates are the built-in fix. If borrowing pressure stays high, rates in that market should climb and attract more USDC supply.
Curators like Steakhouse Financial and Bitwise, plus vaults from Galaxy and Keyrock, point to a user base that values structure and known counterparties over headline yield. A net APY of about 0.80% on top vaults reinforces that.
The next markers to watch are straightforward. Look at whether deposits keep climbing past $500.27 million, whether loans grow beyond $189.93 million, and whether activity spreads out from the cirBTC/USDC market into EURC and other assets.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Estefano Gomez. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Bitcoin (BTC) spiked past $87,000 on Friday as US jobs data missed expectations.
Key points:
Bitcoin tapped $87,200 but failed to make new multi-month highs as overhead resistance held.September US nonfarm payrolls came in below expectations at 29,000, while the August and July figures were revised lower.Analysts saw further BTC price upside on the back of falling US bond yields
Bond yields extend fall on weak labor-market dataData from TradingView showed BTC/USD reaching $87,229 on Bitstamp, just shy of new eight-month highs.
September nonfarm payrolls data came in below expectations, with the economy adding just 29,000 jobs against an anticipated 84,000. August numbers, which had beat expectations on release, were revised down from 162,000 to 133,000.
US stocks gained at the Wall Street open as traders scaled back hawkish bets on Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes following the weaker jobs data. The S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1% and 1.8%, respectively.
“This marks the third weakest jobs report of 2026,” trading resource The Kobeissi Letter noted in a reaction on X.
The latest data from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool showed just an 18% chance of the Fed enacting a 0.25% rate hike at its October meeting, down from 64% a week ago.
US bond yields fell for a second consecutive day, with the 30-year yield at 5.573% and the 10-year at 5.2% at the time of writing. On Wednesday, both reached new 24-year highs as markets looked past softer August Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) data, known as the Fed’s “preferred” inflation gauge.
US 10-year bond yield one-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
Bitcoin analysis sees “cleanest upside catalyst” in yield dropBitcoin price action failed to break beyond multi-month highs seen in September, dropping back below $86,000 at the time of writing.
Previously, Cointelegraph reported on successive walls of ask liquidity on exchange order books keeping upside in check, with the latest band at $87,300 forming new resistance.
BTC liquidation heatmap. Source: CoinGlass
In a new analysis, trading firm QCP Capital argued that BTC/USD should still benefit from the softer labor-market print, with bond yields continuing to fall.
“For Bitcoin, a Treasury relief rally would provide the cleanest upside catalyst. The asset has already demonstrated resilience through a real-rate shock that pressured gold,” it wrote.
Meanwhile, trader Aksel Kibar saw that a successful support retest at $82,800 was already in place on the daily chart.
BTC/USD one-day chart. Source: Aksel Kibar on X.com
This article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph's Editorial Policy and is intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice or recommendations. All investments and trades carry risk; readers are encouraged to conduct independent research.
Bitcoin (BTC) spiked past $87,000 on Friday as US jobs data missed expectations.
Key points:
Bitcoin tapped $87,200 but failed to make new multi-month highs as overhead resistance held.September US nonfarm payrolls came in below expectations at 29,000, while the August and July figures were revised lower.Analysts saw further BTC price upside on the back of falling US bond yields
Bond yields extend fall on weak labor-market dataData from TradingView showed BTC/USD reaching $87,229 on Bitstamp, just shy of new eight-month highs.
September nonfarm payrolls data came in below expectations, with the economy adding just 29,000 jobs against an anticipated 84,000. August numbers, which had beat expectations on release, were revised down from 162,000 to 133,000.
US stocks gained at the Wall Street open as traders scaled back hawkish bets on Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes following the weaker jobs data. The S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1% and 1.8%, respectively.
“This marks the third weakest jobs report of 2026,” trading resource The Kobeissi Letter noted in a reaction on X.
The latest data from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool showed just an 18% chance of the Fed enacting a 0.25% rate hike at its October meeting, down from 64% a week ago.
US bond yields fell for a second consecutive day, with the 30-year yield at 5.573% and the 10-year at 5.2% at the time of writing. On Wednesday, both reached new 24-year highs as markets looked past softer August Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) data, known as the Fed’s “preferred” inflation gauge.
US 10-year bond yield one-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
Bitcoin analysis sees “cleanest upside catalyst” in yield dropBitcoin price action failed to break beyond multi-month highs seen in September, dropping back below $86,000 at the time of writing.
Previously, Cointelegraph reported on successive walls of ask liquidity on exchange order books keeping upside in check, with the latest band at $87,300 forming new resistance.
BTC liquidation heatmap. Source: CoinGlass
In a new analysis, trading firm QCP Capital argued that BTC/USD should still benefit from the softer labor-market print, with bond yields continuing to fall.
“For Bitcoin, a Treasury relief rally would provide the cleanest upside catalyst. The asset has already demonstrated resilience through a real-rate shock that pressured gold,” it wrote.
Meanwhile, trader Aksel Kibar saw that a successful support retest at $82,800 was already in place on the daily chart.
BTC/USD one-day chart. Source: Aksel Kibar on X.com
This article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph's Editorial Policy and is intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice or recommendations. All investments and trades carry risk; readers are encouraged to conduct independent research.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
Bitcoin made a strong start to October, breaking out of the $82,000-$85,000 range where it had been trading sideways for days, and climbing above $86,000.
While BTC’s movements are closely monitored, popular analyst Ali Martinez has offered new assessments regarding Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana.
At this point, the analyst, in their latest assessment from account X, examined long-term charts and identified notable technical levels for Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana in the current bull cycle.
What are the Goals in Bitcoin? The analyst began by noting that Bitcoin appears to have traded within an ascending channel over the past two years.
At this point, the first significant level for Bitcoin is indicated as the previously seen peak of $125,000. It is stated that if this level is surpassed, BTC could rise towards the upper limit of its long-term ascending channel, testing approximately $190,000.
Ethereum Reaches a Critical Threshold of $5,000! The analyst noted that when examining Ethereum’s monthly chart, a rising channel that has been ongoing for approximately five years became apparent.
According to the analyst, the upper limit of the channel around $5,000 stands out as an important technical level for ETH. If ETH breaks above this region, the next target could be $8,800.
What’s the Situation for XRP? XRP is also among the assets that stand out in the analyst’s assessment. The analyst notes that a rising triangle pattern has formed on XRP’s monthly chart, with resistance around the $3.66 level.
The analyst states that a monthly close above this resistance could confirm the breakout, bringing the formation’s technical target to around $31.87.
Solana’s Technical Target is $2,744! The analyst believes a cup-and-handle pattern has formed on Solana’s monthly chart. According to the analyst, the neckline of the pattern is around $295. A monthly close above this level could strengthen the bullish scenario, and the technical target of the pattern could be around $2,744.
Finally, the analyst notes that these levels are projections based on technical analysis and should not be considered as definitive price targets or guaranteed results.
*This is not investment advice.
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Spot silver has fallen below the $60 threshold, currently trading at $59.916.
According to Bitget's market data, spot silver has fallen below the key psychological threshold of $60 per ounce, currently trading at $59.916, down 1.75% on the day.
1 seconds ago
A crypto whale unstakes 956,600 SOL, valued at approximately $116 million.
According to Whale Alert, at 23:01 Beijing time today, an unknown wallet un-staked 956,610 SOL, valued at approximately $115.62 million.
1 seconds ago
Layer 2 network Blast announces it is ceasing operations, requiring users to withdraw their assets to the Ethereum mainnet by October 26.
Layer 2 network Blast announced it will cease operations, as ongoing network maintenance costs have exceeded revenue generated by the L2, with the team noting there is no viable path to achieving economic sustainability. The project is advising all users to withdraw on-chain assets and balances held in its PWA to the Ethereum mainnet, and plans to reduce withdrawal wait times to 24 hours. However, the team will first process the exit of Lido assets held by Blast, a process expected to take approximately one week, during which withdrawal functionality will be temporarily unavailable. Users can complete withdrawals via Blast’s regular interface by October 26. After the deadline, assets can still be retrieved but will require direct interaction with the Blast Bridge contract on Ethereum L1; the team will publish specific operation instructions ahead of the cutoff date.
1 seconds ago
The founder of Pons announced the official launch of its V3 mode, granting creators full autonomy to decide whether to adopt the Bonding Curve.
Pons founder Ozzy announced in a post that the platform has officially entered its V3 phase. Ozzy stated that V3 is primarily targeted at newly launched tokens, while V1 and V2 contracts will remain unchanged, so existing tokens require no adjustments. When asked whether V3 tokens will continue to use Bonding Curves, Ozzy responded that this choice will be left to token creators. In response to user feedback on issues such as insufficient visibility of Bonding Curves, Pons will hand over the relevant decision-making power to deployers. Ozzy also noted that V3 will bring more revenue, reduce "vampire" activities, improve trader mechanisms, minimize extractive practices, and emphasized that the community is its top priority.
1 seconds ago
Maji has notched 10 consecutive wins in PUMP swing trading over the past five days, generating approximately $1.34 million in profit.
According to Lookonchain monitoring, trader Ma Ji has secured 10 consecutive wins in PUMP swing trades over the past 5 days, totaling approximately $1.34 million in profit. His current long positions include 33,950 ETH (valued at around $92.56 million), 409 BTC (worth ~$35.22 million), and 180,000 HYPE (valued at ~$16.16 million).
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Machi(@machibigbrother) has been doing well on $PUMP recently. He has won 10 $PUMP trades in a row over the past 5 days, making a total profit of $1.34M. Current long positions: 33,950 $ETH ($92.56M) 409 $BTC ($35.22M) 180,000 $HYPE ($16.16M)
Tether is taking its flagship stablecoin back to where it started. USDT is set to return to the Bitcoin network with private transfers, direct BTC-USDT swaps, and loans backed by Bitcoin.
The relaunch is planned for October 2026 through an infrastructure project called Utexo. After nearly a decade spent mostly on Ethereum and Tron, the world’s best-known stablecoin is heading home.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino announced the return on X in September 2026 with a short message.
“It’s coming home.”
What Utexo actually does Utexo was founded in 2025 and holds a commercial license from Tether to issue USDT on Bitcoin. The project raised $7.5 million in early 2026 to build out that infrastructure.
The technical foundation combines two pieces: the RGB protocol and Bitcoin’s UTXO model. UTXO stands for “unspent transaction output.” Think of it as Bitcoin’s way of tracking money as individual bills in a wallet rather than as one running balance in a bank account.
RGB is a protocol that lets assets ride on top of Bitcoin using something called client-side validation. Instead of broadcasting every transaction detail to a public ledger, the parties involved check the data themselves, meaning most of the transaction information never lands on the public blockchain.
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That design powers the three headline features. Users will be able to send USDT privately, swap directly between BTC and USDT without intermediaries, and take out loans using native Bitcoin as collateral.
The initial launch is planned for Bitcoin’s mainnet. Support for the Lightning Network, Bitcoin’s faster payments layer, is expected to follow later.
A different approach to compliance Privacy features in a stablecoin raise an obvious question: what happens with bad actors? Utexo’s answer is a blacklist of UTXOs linked to illicit activity.
That differs from how freezes typically work on account-based chains, where an entire address gets locked. It is less like freezing someone’s whole bank account and more like flagging specific bills.
Early demand appears to be there. More than 450 businesses, including exchanges and wallets, have expressed early interest in Utexo’s offerings.
There are also potential discussions involving major institutions, with Morgan Stanley among the names mentioned. Those talks are not confirmed deals, so treat them as a possibility rather than a partnership.
The long road back to Bitcoin USDT’s Bitcoin origin story is often forgotten. The stablecoin first launched in 2014 on the Omni Layer, a protocol built on top of Bitcoin.
Over time, Tether shifted primary issuance to Ethereum and Tron, where fees and speed better suited stablecoin traffic. It halted Omni issuance entirely in August 2023.
In 2025, Tether made announcements about integrating with RGB, laying the groundwork for what Utexo now plans to deliver.
What this means for Bitcoin and its users If BTC-USDT swaps and Bitcoin-backed loans can happen natively on Bitcoin, some dependence on wrapped tokens like WBTC could shrink. Wrapped tokens add custodial and smart contract risk to the equation.
Mainnet launch is planned for October 2026, with Lightning support to come afterward, so the full vision will roll out in stages rather than all at once.
For the 450-plus businesses already lining up, the coming months will show whether interest converts into integrations.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Kaye Quema. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Tether-backed fintech firm Utexo is preparing to introduce USDT stablecoin transfers on the Bitcoin network in the coming weeks, bringing the world’s largest dollar-pegged cryptocurrency back to its original blockchain after years of rapid expansion elsewhere.
Utexo receives license for Bitcoin-based USDT issuanceUtexo co-founder Viktor Ihnatiuk confirmed the company recently obtained a commercial license permitting the issuance of USDT on Bitcoin using the Tether trademark. Founded in 2025, Utexo raised $7.5 million earlier this year to build out its Bitcoin payments infrastructure.
The platform is designed to serve exchanges, wallets, and payment providers with a suite of APIs, SDKs, and cloud-based solutions, enabling seamless integration with the Bitcoin network. USDT transfers will be fully supported, with added functions such as direct BTC-USDT swaps and BTC-backed collateralized lending, eliminating the need to wrap native bitcoin.
Ihnatiuk has described Tether’s historic commitment to the Bitcoin ecosystem, stating,
Tether has always been a Bitcoin company, viewing Bitcoin as a haven of stability alongside gold. Making USDT as accessible on Bitcoin as on other networks is a major priority for Utexo.
In mid-August, Tether held approximately 100,000 BTC valued at $8.4 billion, according to data from Bitcoin Treasuries. USDT was first launched on Bitcoin via the Omni protocol in 2014, though its main usage later shifted to Ethereum and Tron. USDT now boasts a market capitalization nearing $190 billion.
Privacy and compliance driven by RGB and UTXO modelUtexo’s core infrastructure is built on the RGB protocol and utilizes Bitcoin’s UTXO (unspent transaction output) model. This approach allows for private USDT transfers by leveraging client-side validation, which keeps most transaction information off the Bitcoin public ledger. Bitcoin’s UTXO architecture anchors digital asset ownership while preserving the privacy of individual transactions.
Unlike Ethereum and Tron, which operate on an account-based model publicizing balance and transaction updates, Utexo’s system ensures cryptographic proof of ownership without exposing user data. However, while RGB assets cannot be frozen at the address level as on Ethereum, Utexo will enforce compliance by blacklisting UTXOs involved in illicit or sanctioned activity, effectively rendering those tokens unredeemable. The list will be shared with exchanges and payments partners to support compliance.
Ihnatiuk explained that once a UTXO is blacklisted, it can no longer be returned to any bridge or redemption tool, thus upholding both privacy and regulatory standards.
USDT to expand utility on Lightning NetworkFollowing its official launch on Bitcoin, Utexo intends to expand USDT support to the Lightning Network, a prominent layer-2 solution designed for rapid, low-cost Bitcoin transactions. This step could introduce USDT as a fee token on Lightning, mirroring approaches such as Circle’s Arc network, which leverages USDC for its own gas fees.
Alongside these technical enhancements, monitoring investor behavior and token launches has become critical in the digital asset sector. In the meme token space, rapid trends can create million-dollar surges in a matter of days. Fomo App recently highlighted a case where an investor parlayed a $99 trade into about $370,000 by participating early in “Niu Lai.” Tracking not just price but also investor choices and timing is increasingly important. Fomo App offers a unified platform combining token discovery, trading, social feeds, investor rankings, and trade alerts, allowing users to follow meme tokens and investor activity in real time.
Tether’s USDT, a $184 billion digital dollar, is coming back to Bitcoin this month, more than a decade after it first launched there. The new version promises private payments, with most details kept off Bitcoin’s public record.
USDT is the largest stablecoin, a crypto token pegged to the US dollar. It returns just as Washington asks whether Tether can police the coins it already has.
What Changes for USDT Holders When It Returns to Bitcoin?For now, nothing. Tether billed the move as an expansion of its Bitcoin support in a 2025 announcement. Coins on Tron and Ethereum stay where they are.
“USDT on Bitcoin. It’s coming home,” wrote Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether.
Ardoino set out the goal in 2025, promising exchanges and wallets private transfers, BTC-to-USDT swaps, and loans backed by Bitcoin.
“Bitcoin deserves a stablecoin that feels truly native, lightweight, private, and scalable,” Ardoino said at the time.
Is USDT Leaving Tron and Ethereum?
There’s no sign of that. Today, about $92 billion of USDT sits on Tron, roughly half of all coins in circulation, according to DefiLlama. Ethereum holds another $74 billion. Together, the two networks carry more than 90% of the supply.
Stablecoin Usage by Chain. Source: DefiLlamaTether’s 2025 announcement says nothing about pulling USDT from those networks. Its title describes the move as expanding Tether’s Bitcoin support.
Still, Tether has dropped networks before. In September 2025, it ended support for five older networks, including Omni, the Bitcoin-based system where USDT first launched.
The rollout belongs to Utexo, a startup that raised $7.5 million in a round Tether led. Co-founder Viktor Ihnatiuk said this week that Utexo now holds a commercial license to issue the coin.
The technology underneath is RGB, a system for issuing tokens like USDT on Bitcoin. Payment details stay with the sender and receiver and only a small digital fingerprint is recorded on Bitcoin.
Instead of replacing Tron and Ethereum, the Bitcoin version draws on them. Utexo’s bridge, a tool for moving coins between networks, takes in USDT mainly from Ethereum and Tron, according to the RGB Protocol Association.
For users, the token is the same one, pegged to the dollar. The difference is which network it travels on.
Exchanges already ask users to pick a network, such as Tron or Ethereum, before they send USDT. Sending coins on the wrong network can mean losing them.
Can Tether Still Freeze a Private Dollar?Freezing is Tether’s main answer to critics. When US senators said Iran leans on Tether’s USDT to dodge sanctions, Tether pointed to $550 million it had frozen.
On Tron and Ethereum, every USDT transfer sits on a public record. Investigators can follow the money.
The RGB version hides most of that trail. Tether’s announcement does not say how freezes would work.
Utexo has brought in Crystal Intelligence, a blockchain-tracking firm, for compliance, according to the RGB Protocol Association. Ihnatiuk himself plays down the privacy pitch.
“RGB…is mainly just a token standard, one that also brings you privacy, but that’s more of a side feature,” RGB reported, citing Ihnatiuk.
The launch has also slipped past a mid-September window Utexo once called realistic.
Meanwhile, Utexo has met Morgan Stanley to discuss USDT on Bitcoin. Support for Lightning, a faster Bitcoin payment network, comes after launch. Until wallets and exchanges switch it on, Bitcoin USDT has nowhere to travel.
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TLDR Tether’s USDT is making its way back to Bitcoin through Utexo, a project that secured a commercial license to deploy the stablecoin on the network. USDT originally debuted on Bitcoin a decade ago via Omni protocol before migrating primarily to Ethereum and Tron. The implementation leverages RGB protocol to maintain transaction privacy by keeping data off Bitcoin’s transparent blockchain. Users will be able to conduct confidential USDT transactions, execute peer-to-peer BTC-USDT exchanges, and access bitcoin-collateralized lending. Following the mainnet deployment, Utexo intends to integrate Lightning Network functionality for faster payments. The world’s dominant stablecoin is heading back to where it all began. Tether’s USDT will launch on Bitcoin this month courtesy of Utexo, a startup that received official authorization to bring the asset to the network.
With a market capitalization approaching $190 billion, USDT maintains its position as the largest stablecoin globally. The token made its initial appearance on Bitcoin in 2014 using the Omni protocol infrastructure.
As blockchain technology evolved, the bulk of USDT circulation gradually migrated to alternative platforms, particularly Ethereum and Tron. By 2023, Tether had ceased new issuance through Omni entirely as the transition reached completion.
Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s chief executive, teased the announcement last month with a cryptic social media post on X. His “It’s coming home” message referenced USDT’s journey back to its original blockchain.
How Utexo’s Privacy System Works Established in 2025, Utexo successfully secured $7.5 million in capital earlier this year. The platform will handle USDT deployment on Bitcoin while supplying integration tools for exchanges, digital wallets, and payment processors.
Tether-Backed Utexo Plans to Launch USDT on Bitcoin This Month
Tether-backed Bitcoin payments infrastructure project Utexo plans to issue USDT on the Bitcoin network this month. Co-founder Viktor Ihnatiuk said the company has obtained a commercial license and will provide APIs,… pic.twitter.com/xiKTbxYMK6
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) October 2, 2026
The technical foundation rests on RGB protocol integrated with Bitcoin’s unspent transaction output (UTXO) architecture. UTXOs represent residual bitcoin amounts from previous transactions, functioning much like the change received after making a cash payment.
The architecture employs client-side validation mechanisms. Under this model, transactional information remains private between participating parties rather than being broadcast to Bitcoin’s transparent public ledger.
Bitcoin’s blockchain serves exclusively as an ownership verification layer. This contrasts sharply with Ethereum and Tron, where account balances and complete transaction histories remain permanently visible on public records.
Tether maintains substantial bitcoin reserves, holding approximately 100,000 BTC valued at roughly $8.4 billion as of mid-August. Viktor Ihnatiuk, Utexo’s co-founder, noted that Bitcoin has consistently remained a strategic priority for Tether’s treasury.
Three Main Uses for USDT on Bitcoin Utexo outlines three primary applications for its infrastructure. The first enables confidential peer-to-peer USDT transactions.
The second facilitates atomic swaps between native BTC and USDT, eliminating the need for centralized exchange intermediaries. The third feature introduces lending functionality, allowing users to obtain loans against native bitcoin holdings without bridging assets to alternative blockchains.
Traditional wrapped bitcoin products such as WBTC currently force users to convert their BTC into tokenized representations for cross-chain compatibility. Utexo’s design eliminates this conversion requirement completely.
Privacy protections do face certain limitations. Unlike Ethereum, where Tether can freeze specific addresses, Utexo cannot directly freeze individual UTXOs.
The company’s compliance approach involves maintaining a blacklist identifying UTXOs connected to prohibited activities. This registry will be distributed to exchanges and service providers to prevent the movement of flagged assets.
According to Ihnatiuk, a blacklisted UTXO essentially becomes illiquid. Users would be unable to deposit it to bridges, utilize minting services, or transfer the value to alternative networks such as Ethereum or Tron.
Over 450 companies have registered interest in Utexo’s platform to date. This group encompasses cryptocurrency exchanges and wallet developers, though the company has yet to announce any official partnerships.
Discussions with major financial institutions have also occurred. Utexo has declined to disclose the identities of these potential institutional partners.
The mainnet deployment is scheduled for this month. Subsequently, Utexo will pursue Lightning Network integration, Bitcoin’s layer-two scaling solution designed for rapid micropayments.
The objective includes enabling USDT to function as a fee payment mechanism within Lightning channels. This approach parallels how Circle has implemented USDC functionality on Arc, its proprietary blockchain infrastructure.
The Bitcoin mainnet launch represents a crucial proof-of-concept for evaluating market appetite for privacy-enhanced transfers, trustless BTC-USDT swaps, and bitcoin-collateralized lending through Utexo’s platform.
The cryptocurrency market advanced early Friday evening, with Bitcoin climbing to $86,688—up 3.38% over 24 hours—after the latest US Non-Farm Payrolls data showed job growth of just 29,000, missing forecasts of 84,000 to 90,000. Unemployment edged higher to 4.2%, and total crypto market capitalization kept within the $2.94 to $3.03 trillion range as traders took stock of macroeconomic signals and sector developments.
Institutional flows and ETF performance reinforce market momentumBitcoin’s move was echoed by positive trends among institutional products. SoSoValue reported that spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows of $103 million. BlackRock’s IBIT performed strongly with $196 million in new capital, counterbalancing an outflow of $61 million from Fidelity’s FBTC. In contrast, Ether ETFs saw daily net outflows totaling $55 million.
Ethereum itself broke out from a prolonged sideways price range, increasing 1.69% to $2,749.47, mirroring wider optimism driven by new market catalysts and infrastructure changes.
The total value locked across major cryptocurrencies reflected these shifts, as capital rotated between key assets aligned with developing headlines in Washington and on global exchanges.
AssetPrice24h ChangeMarket ShareBitcoin (BTC)$86,688+3.38%59.10%Ethereum (ETH)$2,749+1.69%11.39%Solana (SOL)$122.62+4.18%N/AXRP$1.5444+3.57%N/A“It’s coming home”: Tether launches USDT on Bitcoin with UtexoTether, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, is returning USDT to the Bitcoin blockchain through Utexo, a platform specializing in integrating USD-backed tokens on Bitcoin-based networks. Utexo completed a $7.5 million seed funding round, co-led by Tether, alongside Portal Ventures and Big Brain Holdings.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino actively supported the initiative, referencing the launch with the phrase, “It’s coming home.” Utexo seeks to expand USDT’s reach by leveraging Bitcoin’s native infrastructure, combining technologies such as RGB and Lightning Network.
Backers expect Utexo’s RGB implementation in October 2026 to transform Bitcoin into a settlement channel for dollar-denominated transactions, shifting its role beyond a store of value.
Utexo’s co-founder Viktor Ignatyuk stated that the company is in discussions with Morgan Stanley to facilitate broader integration into mainstream banking custody. Hundreds of exchanges and wallet providers have shown interest in the development.
Currently, nearly $184 billion USDT circulates, representing about 60% of the global stablecoin market, while much of the remaining supply resides on Ethereum and Tron. By comparison, tokenized USDT activity on Bitcoin has been minimal due to technological limitations on legacy networks such as Omni Layer. The new initiative could address Bitcoin’s tiny share of stablecoin volume and restore its relevance in this segment.
Mini dictionary: Utexo is a technology company specializing in deploying stablecoins and digital assets on Bitcoin using the RGB protocol and Lightning Network, which enables the issuance and transfer of digital tokens on top of Bitcoin in a scalable manner.
Regulatory shifts, M&A activity, and Solana’s RWA milestoneUS regulators are signaling an easing of the policy climate for digital asset firms. On her last day in office, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce joined new SEC Chair Paul Atkins and Commissioner Mark Uyeda in proposing new rules for digital asset custody. The reforms would allow registered investment advisers and funds to use state-chartered trust firms and some degree of self-custody, provided robust cybersecurity standards are met.
Simultaneously, the SEC and CFTC are drafting joint rules to supersede the stalled CLARITY Act. Paul Atkins acknowledged the maturation of crypto assets into a trillion-dollar market. Other regulatory measures, including the Federal Reserve’s GENIUS Act and the Innovation Exemption for NMS, remain in force until at least 2031.
Utexo’s seed raise and Armada’s Nasdaq debut capped a week of major US policy and market structure changes, creating new opportunities for institutional participation.
The merger of Armada Acquisition Corp. II and Evernorth received shareholder approval, and the combined entity will debut on Nasdaq under the ticker XRPN on October 8. The firm will hold 473 million XRP, valued at about $730 million. As anticipation built, XRP rose 3.57% to $1.5444.
Concurrently, Solana reached a record 1.2 million wallets holding tokenized stocks, with 775,000 new unique addresses added in September. This surge brought Solana’s market share of on-chain real-world asset (RWA) activity to 95%. The SOL token rallied by 4.18% to $122.62.
By contrast, AI-themed crypto assets—such as NEAR, Bittensor (TAO), and Render—underperformed, while Quant (QNT) dropped 16% to $250 following the realization that its integration into The Clearing House system did not require the asset itself, impacting investor sentiment. SHIB coin continued to trade within a tight range, showing minimal reaction to market trends.
Mini dictionary: The Clearing House is a US-based entity that operates payment systems for banks and financial institutions, providing critical infrastructure for interbank transactions.
Derivatives market squeeze and key trading levelsHigh volatility dominated the crypto derivatives market, as total liquidations hit $362.77 million in 24 hours. Nearly $269.87 million of these losses affected short positions, signifying a challenging environment for bearish traders. Around 79,443 traders saw positions forcibly closed in this liquidation cascade.
Open interest in Bitcoin futures reached 653,000 BTC, equating to $56 billion, amid a tripling of funding rates—a sign of increased leveraged bullish bets rather than direct spot purchases.
Key LevelBTC ValueETH ValueSupport$82,600$2,635–$2,660Resistance$87,200–$87,600$2,740–$2,800Critical liquidation trigger$75,800 (>$6.7B long liquidations)$2,420 (>$4.17B long liquidations)On-chain data from CryptoQuant indicated a 40% spike in monthly stablecoin inflows to Binance from addresses holding over $1 million, providing fresh buying power for possible price corrections.
The macroeconomic outlook, centered around weaker jobs growth and unemployment at 4.2%, lessens expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike in October, while the ISM PMI price index at 77.9 adds potential inflationary pressure. Citigroup’s year-end price targets remained key psychological reference points with $113,000 for Bitcoin and $3,028 for Ethereum, supporting sentiment in the wake of today’s developments.
Chainlink price increased 0.95% to $14.44 over 24 hours, with the token’s movement largely following Bitcoin’s rally.
The LINK price surged by more than 30% over the past month following the CCIP 2.0 Launch as the token eyes $20 level.
The modest advance coincided with a LINK ETF recording its third consecutive day of inflows. Positive regulatory developments supported sentiment, pushing total market capitalization up 2.37% to $2.93 trillion.
Bitcoin price hovered above $86,000 after a strong climb over the past day, while Ethereum traded above $2,700. XRP rose 3% to $1.53 over the same period, adding to the broader market’s positive daily performance.
Chainlink ETF Extends Inflow Streak to Three Straight Days The two Chainlink exchange-traded funds recorded $2.62 million in net inflows on October 1, according to SoSoValue data. Bitwise’s CLNK attracted the entire daily inflow, while Grayscale’s GLNK reported no net change.
Combined inflows reached $168.96 million, while total net assets stood at $244.34 million. Those assets, held across the two NYSE-listed funds, represented 2.27% of LINK’s overall market capitalization.
Source: Sosovalue data The weekly view showed $8.30 million in net inflows, with LINK quoted at $14.45. Daily trading across both funds totaled $14.99 million, with Grayscale accounting for $14.56 million. Grayscale held $175.69 million in net assets, compared with Bitwise’s $68.64 million.
Is Chainlink Price Preparing for a Breakout Above $15? The LINK price traded at $14.451 on October 2, rising 0.56% in the latest four-hour candle. Chainlink held above $14 support after retreating from its late-September peak. The narrow range trading observed on the recent candles kept trading below $15 resistance.
The four-hour relative strength index stood at 52.27; this reading suggested a modest positive bias, although momentum remained close to neutral.
The MACD line registered 0.048, trailing the signal line at 0.083. Its histogram remained negative at -0.035, indicating that bearish momentum was still present.
Source: TradingView A sustained move above $15 could open the way toward the next resistance at $16 for the detailed LINK price analysis.
Holding $14 would preserve the recent consolidation structure and support another attempt at resistance.
Failure to defend that level could bring the previous trading area near $13 back into focus. A deeper decline could test the September support zone around $12.20, where an earlier rebound developed.
Chainlink Open Interest Nears $772M Despite Falling Trading Volume Chainlink derivatives market saw a 21.53% drop in trading volume, which resulted in trading turnover of $589.69 million.
There was a 21.53% decrease in trading volume on the Chainlink derivatives market, with the total turnover of $589.69 million. Only a slight decrease in the value of outstanding contracts as open interest, the number of contracts outstanding, increased 0.08% to $771.91 million.
LINK Open Interest The figures show lower trading volumes, but relatively flat derivatives exposure. Volume represents the number of contracts traded in a period and Open Interest represents the number of contracts that are held open.
South Africa’s Absa Group has become Africa’s first bank to offer digital-asset custody. The service gives institutional clients regulated access to storage and transfers for Bitcoin, Ether, USDC and XRPL assets.
Absa Launches Crypto Custody for Institutional Clients Absa has rolled out its Digital Asset Custody platform in South Africa after receiving regulatory approval. The Johannesburg-based bank initially targets asset managers, non-bank financial institutions and corporate clients. Retail customers are not part of the initial rollout.
The platform allows institutions to hold, manage and transfer digital assets through Absa’s banking infrastructure. Bitcoin currently accounts for the largest share of assets in custody. Absa also supports Ether, USDC and assets on the XRP Ledger.
Absa built the custody platform with Ripple technology to manage digital assets. Its Corporate and Investment Banking division operates the service after the companies previously announced their custody partnership.
Absa Eyes Wider Crypto Custody Expansion Absa plans to support more crypto assets as institutional demand develops. However, the bank has not given a timeline or confirmed which assets it could add next.
“We expect to extend this to other client segments in South Africa in due course,” Rob Downs, head of digital assets at Absa Corporate and Investment Banking, said.
Downs added that Absa is “actively working” to introduce the service in some of its other African markets. Those plans remain subject to regulatory approval in each market.
As earlier reported by CoinGape, major financial institutions have also expanded their digital-asset custody offerings as banks develop infrastructure for institutional crypto holdings.
South Africa Crypto Custody Market Reaches R25.3 Billion Absa enters the sector as crypto assets held by major South African providers continue to grow. Luno, VALR and Ovex held R25.3 billion, or about $1.5 billion, by the end of 2024.
The South African Reserve Bank reported that the figure had more than doubled from below R10 billion in early 2023. The increase covers assets held by the three licensed providers.
Absa will now compete for institutional assets through its regulated banking infrastructure. Its entry gives South African companies and asset managers another custody option as banks expand their crypto custody infrastructure.
South Africa’s Absa Group has launched digital-asset custody services for institutional clients after receiving regulatory approval. The service supports Bitcoin, XRP Ledger, Ethereum and USDC, with plans to add more assets. Absa will provide safekeeping, administration and transfer services to asset managers, non-bank financial institutions and corporates. The bank plans to expand the service to other client segments and African markets, subject to regulatory approvals. South African crypto assets under custody reached R25.3 billion ($1.5 billion) by the end of 2024, according to the South African Reserve Bank.
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According to Bloomberg, Absa has become the first bank on the African continent to offer digital asset custody services, providing secure custody, management and transfer of digital assets to its South African institutional asset clients—including asset management firms, non-bank financial institutions and corporates. The bank has obtained approval from South African regulators for the custody service, which currently supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP and USDC. Absa plans to expand its service scope to cover more assets.
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The broader cryptocurrency market showed stability today as Bitcoin climbed above the key resistance level of $86,000. Total market capitalization grew 1.57% over the past 24 hours, reaching $2.93 trillion. Major tokens including Doppler Finance (XDP), Uniswap (UNI), and Pepe Coin (PEPE) attracted heightened attention for their notable price movements and technical developments.
Uniswap price predictionUniswap’s UNI token has experienced a notable rally in recent months, rising from a June low of $2.31 to a peak of $10.90 last month. The surge coincided with a market-wide uptrend that lifted Bitcoin and many altcoins to multi-month highs.
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Recently, UNI broke through the resistance level at $7.47, which had stood since September 6. This movement invalidated a previously bearish double-top pattern and set the stage for further gains. Technically, the coin has established a cup-and-handle formation, often interpreted as a bullish continuation pattern, and is currently shaping the handle portion.
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DeFi Llama data shows Uniswap’s trading volume rebounded dramatically, hitting $93 billion in the latest tally, the highest since October of last year, and fueling renewed bullish momentum for UNI.
Pepe Coin price predictionPepe Coin has also delivered strong performance over the past several months. The price advanced from $0.0000022 in early July to a recent level of $0.000004575. Early in the rally, PEPE outlined a bullish pennant pattern, combining a sharp vertical rise with a symmetrical triangle that resembled a falling wedge, a structure often linked to reversals in technical analysis.
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Uniswap (UNI) price is up slightly by 0.65% today, October 2, to trade at $9.11 at the time of writing. The slight gains mirror the recovery across the broader crypto market as Bitcoin (BTC) reclaims $86,000.
Uniswap gains also come as SMBC Nikko Securities partners with multiple crypto firms, including Uniswap Labs, to create a DeFi Gateway that targets the Japanese market.
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The initiative will use Uniswap v4 Hooks to create a liquidity pool framework that is compliant with anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CFT) laws.
The firms plan to launch the DeFi platform by mid-2027, with each progress made towards launch set to be shared with various regulatory bodies in Japan.
The launch comes barely four months after Standard Chartered forecast that the liquidity pools on Uniswap could have 37 times more assets by 2030. As CoinGape reported, the bank forecasts that UNI price could surge 40 times in the next four years.
Open Interest Remains Elevated After 53% Rally Data from CoinGlass shows that Uniswap’s open interest increased from $491 million in mid-September to more than $900 million by the end of September.
While the OI has dropped slightly from the September high of $971 million, it remained elevated at $915 million at the time of writing.
UNI Open Interest (Source: CoinGlass) The high open interest suggests that the traders who opened futures positions on UNI price in September as the price soared have yet to close their positions.
The weighted funding rate also remains positive, suggesting that long-buyers are paying more to keep their positions open as doubts grow that the Fed will hike interest rates during the October Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.
Still, the long/short reading in Binance has dropped from 1.86 on September 25 to 1.57 at the time of writing, suggesting that some long traders are closing their positions.
UNI Price Rally Loses Steam but 20D EMA Support Holds The Uniswap gains that occurred in September are cooling down, with UNI price now consolidating within a symmetrical triangle pattern.
The ADX reading above 50 suggests that Uniswap remains in an uptrend. However, the ADX line that is tipping south signals a bearish future Uniswap outlook because it shows that the uptrend is becoming weak.
If UNI closes below the support at the lower trendline of the symmetrical triangle, the price could drop to test the support at the 20-day EMA of $8.48.
UNI/USDT 1D Chart (Source: TradingView) However, if the uptrend resumes and UNI closes above the resistance at the 78.7% Fib of $9.26, it could kickstart another bullish leg towards $10.
