Inside the Crypto Sector
Since Friday, Bitcoin has rallied more than 5%, climbing from $108,700 to $114,900. This surge comes on the back of an 8% pullback the prior week, suggesting that buyers are attempting to reclaim momentum as we enter Q4—historically crypto’s strongest quarter. Ethereum has mirrored the rally, up 8% from last week’s lows, now trading at $4,145 but staring at key resistance around August’s former support band. Whether ETH can break higher could determine if “Uptober” lives up to its reputation or falters early.
Flows Confirm Institutional Demand
On September 30, spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $430 million in net inflows—remarkably, none of the twelve funds saw redemptions. Ethereum ETFs also saw strength, with $127 million of net inflows and similarly no outflows. This behaviour points to sticky institutional demand, reinforcing the thesis that flows, not just retail speculation, are increasingly driving market structure.
Altcoins followed the broader move higher, though in a more muted fashion:
XRP: $2.86
BNB: $1,011
SOL: $210
One outlier was the PUMP token from Punp.fun, which spiked 22% after Cathie Wood reposted commentary on the project’s content-creator streaming platform. Even if speculative, the move underlines the narrative power of high-profile endorsements in smaller-cap tokens.
Institutional Expansion: Kraken, Vanguard, Swift
Institutional newsflow continues to thicken:
Kraken raised $500 million at a $15 billion valuation. With no lead investor, the round leaned on existing institutional funds and CEO Arjun Sethi’s Tribe Capital. Kraken has earmarked the capital for expansion and its planned 2026 IPO.
Vanguard, long a crypto holdout, may list third-party spot crypto ETFs on its brokerage platform. While it has no intent to launch proprietary products, access to external ETFs would be a landmark shift in tone for the $8 trillion asset manager.
Swift is piloting blockchain-based messaging with over a dozen banks, including BNP Paribas and BNY Mellon. The test leverages Consensys’ Linea (Ethereum L2), hinting at real-world adoption of Ethereum scaling infrastructure at the banking level.
Stablecoins and Payments Innovation
Stablecoins remain at the heart of crypto’s infrastructural evolution:
Tether is reportedly in early talks with SoftBank and ARK Invest for a funding round valuing the firm as high as $500 billion—placing it among the most valuable privately held companies globally.
Circle will roll out a “Refund Protocol” on its institutional Arc blockchain, bringing escrow-based dispute resolution directly on-chain—an attempt to merge instant settlement with compliance protocols.
Qatar National Bank has integrated JPMorgan’s Kinexys blockchain for U.S. dollar corporate payments, bearing hallmarks of near-instant, 24/7 settlement for business accounts.
ETFs, Regulation, and Enforcement
The regulatory landscape continues to shift decisively:
The SEC has asked issuers of spot ETFs for LTC, XRP, SOL, ADA, and DOGE to withdraw 19b-4 filings after generic listing standards rendered them unnecessary. Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas now pegs approval odds for spot ETFs at “essentially 100%.” With 19b-4 hurdles cleared, only S-1 registration statements remain for final review. Notably, the Solana ETF is already on its fourth amendment—approval could arrive imminently.
Binance unveiled its Crypto-as-a-Service offering, giving banks and brokers white-label infrastructure to plug into custody, liquidity, fiat ramps, and compliance.
Enforcement moves ranged from an ICE raid on a Texas mining ASIC repair site linked to Bitmain affiliates, to Turkey empowering its financial crimes board to freeze accounts and blacklist illicit wallets. Kazakhstan, meanwhile, unveiled a state-backed crypto reserve through its Alem Crypto Fund.
Market Manipulation Concerns
The SEC halted trading in shares of QMMM Holdings after the stock appreciated 959% in just three weeks, fueled by anonymous online promotions. The pause came after QMMM proposed a $100 million crypto treasury spanning Bitcoin, ETH, and Solana. Regulators cited risks of manipulation and weak disclosures—an echo of past “microcap plus crypto pivot” schemes.
Stablecoin Platforms and Treasuries Grow
Stripe launched its Open Issuance stablecoin infrastructure, with custody partners including BlackRock and Fidelity. Its first integration—Phantom’s CASH—will allow custom issuance and redemptions with minimal coding. Paired with its partnership with OpenAI to enable Agentic Commerce Protocol, Stripe is targeting AI-integrated payments rails.
Metaplanet, Japan’s Bitcoin treasury standard bearer, added another 5,268 BTC, bringing total holdings to 30,823 BTC—cementing its role as one of the largest public corporate holders of the asset.
