Bitcoin hit a new all-time high
There’s never a dull moment on the blockchain. Here’s what you need to know this week:
Bitcoin hit a new all-time high above $126K. Also, staking-enabled Ethereum ETFs are rolling out, and public firms are adding record levels of crypto.
What are perpetual futures and why do they matter? The “perps” sector has seen massive growth in the crypto space in 2025.
The stablecoin market just set a new record. And more key stats from around the cryptoverse.
MARKET BYTES
Bitcoin hits new all-time high as “Uptober” kicks into high gear
In crypto circles, October is known as “Uptober,” because historically it’s been one of the best-performing months of the calendar. So far this month, Uptober has been living up to its nickname.
Bitcoin rocketed to a new all-time high above $126,000 on Monday; ETH came close to a new all-time high of its own on Tuesday, approaching $4,800; and a wide range of major altcoins also saw double-digit weekly gains, before prices dipped Tuesday afternoon. By Wednesday afternoon, BTC was sitting around $123,000, and ETH hovered near $4,500.
One potential trigger for the rally — which also included new highs for assets as varied as gold, stocks, and even Pokémon cards — is that the ongoing U.S. government shutdown has rapidly driven investors out of dollars and into pretty much everything else, according to Bloomberg,
“[Market watchers] have speculated that the shutdown, which kicked in on Wednesday, will drive investors to safe-haven assets in what market participants have begun to call the ‘debasement trade,’” Bloomberg noted.
Here’s more market news you need to know.
Crypto ETFs keep breaking records
For the week ending Oct. 4, crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) attracted a record-breaking $5.95 billion in new capital, according to CoinShares data.
Bitcoin funds accounted for $3.55 billion of inflows, ETH ETFs tallied $1.48 billion, and Solana and XRP funds attracted $706.5 million and $219.4 million, respectively.
“This level of investment highlights the growing recognition of digital assets as an alternative in times of uncertainty,” noted CoinShares Head of Research James Butterfill.
Meanwhile, crypto-focused investment firm Grayscale has added staking rewards to its spot Ethereum and Solana ETFs, a first for U.S. spot ETFs. Investors in these ETFs will be able to earn some of the rewards that accrue to the funds’ staked crypto. (Staking is a way to earn rewards by putting crypto to work on a blockchain network.)
Top of the Rock… On Monday, BTC funds recorded $1.2 billion in new investment, with BlackRock’s iShares fund accounting for a staggering $970 million of those inflows. The blockbuster ETF, which has just under $100 billion under management, has become the firm’s most profitable ETF, according to Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas.
Public firms are doubling down on crypto
Bitmine Immersion Technologies, the second-largest corporate holder of crypto, added another 179,251 ETH (worth around $820 million) to a balance sheet that’s now worth $13.4 billion. The company now holds around 2% of ETH’s total supply, with plans to get to 5%.
Meanwhile, a Nasdaq-listed firm called Solana Company announced the purchase of around $500 million in SOL, while another firm called Sharps Technology said it holds around $445 million in SOL.
The idea behind these companies is to raise money to acquire crypto, and thereby allow investors indirect access to crypto via conventional markets.
Stacking gains… Strategy, the firm that pioneered this business model, now holds around $78 billion in BTC. For Q3 of 2025, the company reports that the BTC it holds gained $3.9 billion in value.
PERPETUAL MOTION
What are perpetual futures and why have they become so important for crypto?
If you’ve ever heard the trading term “perpetual futures” and have gone 🤨, you’re definitely not alone. But as they grow rapidly in popularity — September just saw $1 trillion of perpetuals trading on decentralized exchanges — now’s a great time to learn some basics about what they are, how they work, and what they can tell us about the crypto market.
Let’s dive right in.
What are perpetual futures?
Perpetual futures (or “perps”) are a type of derivative contract, and a way that sophisticated traders can speculate on the price movements of assets — like bitcoin, ether, or other cryptocurrencies — without needing to buy the underlying assets themselves. Some traders also use leverage, which can amplify potential gains or losses. Perps are the most popular trading product in all of crypto, accounting for nearly 70% of all of bitcoin’s trading volume so far in 2025.
How do perpetual futures work and why are they popular?
Perps are popular, in part, because of their flexibility. Unlike traditional futures contracts, perpetual futures don’t have an expiration date, meaning traders can hold their positions indefinitely, as long as they maintain the required margin.
They also allow traders to amplify their positions with leverage (or borrowed capital). For example, if a trader has $5,000 in capital, but the perps platform allows for 10x leverage, they’d be able to make a trade of up to $50,000. This ability to amplify exposure can lead to larger potential gains — but also comes with the risk of amplified losses. If the market moves in the wrong direction, traders run the risk of being liquidated and losing their entire investment.
What can perpetual futures tell us about the market?
Perps offer a real-time gauge of market sentiment and positioning — and can tell you how many traders are “long” or “short” an asset at any given time.
Perps can also offer useful insights via liquidations. Large-scale liquidations can often signal market tops, bottoms, or price breakouts, which can be a critical insight for traders.
What’s fueling the growth of perps this year?
Perps have been around for nearly a decade. But 2025 has seen them go mainstream, in part due to the growth of Hyperliquid — a decentralized perpetual futures exchange credited with helping make perps accessible to non-professional traders and traders outside centralized trading platforms.
At one point this year, Hyperliquid accounted for 75% of all decentralized perps trading volume. And so far in 2025, the platform has tallied more than $2.2 trillion in trading volume.
“Hyperliquid’s breakthrough was building its own specialized Layer 1, an ‘appchain,’ designed for a single purpose: speed,” said Diogo Mónica, general partner at Haun Ventures, a venture capital firm.
With decentralized perps trading volume now equivalent to around 17% of the $5.6 trillion in monthly trading volume seen on centralized platforms, venture capitalists and Wall Street have taken notice.
What kind of investments have venture firms made?
According to the Block, decentralized perps exchanges are some of the most profitable startups in crypto. “Most VCs have just caught on to how massive the pot of gold at the end of the perp DEX rainbow can be,” said Anirudh Pai, partner at Robot Ventures.
Robot Ventures recently led an $8 million seed round for a perps startup called Bulk. Haun Ventures invested in Lighter, another perps DEX that launched publicly earlier this month. And Rails, the first perps-only exchange in the U.S., launched this summer with $20 million in funding.
After September became the first $1 trillion month for perps DEXes, Mónica said he believes VC interest in the sector is only set to rise. “There will definitely be more raises from the VCs that don't already have at least one bet and feel like they've missed out.”
What’s next for perps trading?
So far in 2025, perps trading has accounted for around 75% of all trading volume on centralized exchanges. And on decentralized exchanges, perps have a similarly dominant position, accounting for 56% of all trade volume, according to The Block.
With an improving regulatory landscape for crypto in the U.S., perps trading is likely to grow even more popular. Platforms including Coinbase have launched perps trading products for U.S. customers in recent months, after years of being blocked from doing so. Wall Street is also catching on, with a recent inflow of institutional capital into perps markets.
“What we have heard from our customers, including some of the biggest proprietary trading firms and brokers, is that they are looking for that leveraged access into crypto,” said David Mercer, CEO of LMAX, a new institutional-focused perps platform.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
$303 billion
Total value of the stablecoin market as of Wednesday, an all-time high per data from DeFiLlama. Increasingly supported by payment giants including Visa, Stripe, and PayPal, dollar-pegged stablecoins such as USDC are gaining global adoption for cross-border payments, e-commerce, and as a store of value in emerging markets.
$2.85 billion
The amount of revenue generated by Solana’s blockchain over the past year, rivaling S&P 500 companies like Palantir, according to a new report from 21Shares. Trading platforms generated most of the fees for the blockchain, but the report also noted that lending apps, wallets, and emerging sectors like AI-driven applications also contributed to network fees and usage.
$2 billion
The size of an investment made by the owner of the New York Stock Exchange into Polymarket, the crypto-based prediction market platform. According to CoinDesk, the investment, which values Polymarket at $9 billion, could lend the platform “regulatory credibility” as it plots a return to the U.S. market.
$82 million
The amount that bitcoin life insurance company, Meanwhile, raised from investors including Open AI CEO Sam Altman, Haun Ventures, and Bain Capital. Meanwhile offers life insurance plans entirely denominated in bitcoin, including all premiums, policy values, and claims. The company says it has hundreds of policy holders, and more than 660 BTC under management.
TOKEN TRIVIA
Approximately, what is BTC’s lowest price level of 2025 to date?
A
$91,000
B
$83,000
C
$75,000
D
$69,000
Encuentra la respuesta a continuación.
Respuesta de la trivia
C
$75,000
