Macro Trends

In September, the cryptocurrency market remained volatile, with total market capitalization fluctuating between $3.8 trillion and $4.3 trillion. Early-month capital inflows pushed valuations to a peak of $4.25 trillion, before macroeconomic factors drove a pullback to around $4 trillion. Liquidity stayed stable, though the market lacked fresh momentum. On-chain activity was steady, led by Solana, while Arbitrum and Base saw mid-month surges. Base and Polygon also experienced brief spikes in gas fees. ArbitrumDAO’s DRIP incentive program attracted significant inflows, with $33.1 million in stablecoins entering the ecosystem within two days. Meanwhile, Plasma launched its mainnet and native token XPL, which peaked at $1.67, bringing its fully diluted valuation (FDV) to over $14 billion.

Gate Research Weekly Report: BTC and ETH continued to trade sideways as market momentum weakened and overall sentiment turned cautious. Anza launched Jetstreamer, enabling Solana developers to achieve ultra-high-speed ledger data transmission. BlackRock’s BUIDL fund expanded its deployment on Aptos, advancing the development of the RWA tokenization ecosystem. Tesla reported an $80 million profit in Q3 from its Bitcoin holdings, with the total value of its digital assets rising to $1.3 billion. Meanwhile, Tempo announced a $500 million funding round on October 18 to accelerate the growth of its high-performance payment blockchain ecosystem.

The article delves into the reasons behind the surge in gold prices, highlighting that a key factor is the shift in asset allocation among major sovereign nations, particularly the weakening confidence in the U.S. dollar and the reassessment of risks associated with holding dollar-denominated assets.

In September 2025, Solana and Base continued to dominate high-frequency on-chain activity, while Ethereum saw slight declines in transactions and active addresses but remained the leader in fee revenue, reinforcing its position in high-value scenarios. Arbitrum, boosted by the DRIP incentive program, recorded over $500 million in net inflows, with ecosystem activity rebounding and on-chain dynamics continuing to shift. Bitcoin consolidated at high levels, with weakening capital activity and reduced long-term holdings, though market pressure remained mild. Plasma gained traction rapidly with an integrated stablecoin architecture and aggressive incentives, surpassing $5.4 billion in TVL within its first week; MYX Finance surged on mechanism innovation and strong community momentum, emerging as a rising star in the derivatives sector.

Gate Research Daily Report: On October 17, the crypto market came under pressure, with major assets broadly declining. BTC fell 1.87%, while ETH dropped 1.70%, both maintaining weak, range-bound structures. A few thematic tokens, however, bucked the trend — XPIN surged 133.33% driven by multi-chain collaboration and mainnet expectations; ZKC rose 56.23% on mainnet progress and real-time proof updates; and KGEN gained 43.22% following its token launch and ecosystem partnership news. Meanwhile, Ethereum remained the top ecosystem by developer count, Tokenized Gold hit a new market cap high, and Chainlink launched its real-time oracle integration, marking further innovation in DeFi infrastructure.

Gate Research Daily Report: On October 20, BTC is trading above the MA30, indicating that short-term bullish momentum remains, though it faces notable resistance above; ETH’s short-term MA5 has crossed below MA10, forming a short-term bearish signal. Gate Layer on-chain addresses surpassed 100 million; Solana TVL hit a three-year high at 59.28 million SOL; Aave V4 will support diversified collateral assets, further expanding the financing scope in DeFi.

Gate Research Daily Report: On October 15, Bitcoin (BTC) experienced a strong upward move after a period of high-level consolidation; Ethereum (ETH), after a sharp decline, found support at lower levels and saw a short-term rebound; GateToken (GT) briefly touched the $17.5 mark; and BAS surged approximately 132.85% within 24 hours. Meanwhile, Base’s native token is set to launch soon, aiming to build an interconnected ecosystem on Ethereum. K33 Research Director Vetle Lunde noted in a recent report that the recent leverage flush in the market represents a “healthy adjustment.”

The article provides a detailed analysis of the market performance of major asset classes, including gold, crude oil, U.S. equities, and Bitcoin. It also explores the macroeconomic factors underlying these market movements.

Gate Research Daily Report: On October 10, BTC briefly surged above $126,000 before quickly retreating and subsequently fell below $121,800, forming a clear downward structure. ETH, after declining from a high near $4,755, briefly broke short-term support and touched a low of $4,265, followed by an oversold rebound. GT, from its peak of $17.31, gradually declined to a low of $16.10 before showing signs of a temporary bottom.Meanwhile, RAIL (+75.7%), ZEC (+41%), and SNX (+21%) rose strongly against the trend, highlighting renewed capital inflows and hot sentiment in the privacy and DeFi narrative sectors.Q3 DeFi TVL reached a record high, but user activity significantly declined. Aave partnered with Blockdaemon to facilitate institutional access to DeFi services. Flying Tulip announced its first public fundraising partner, Impossible, with whitelist applications officially open.

Gate Research Daily Report: On October 13, BTC showed signs of a rebound after briefly dipping to around $102,000. ETH touched a low of $3,394 before quickly stabilizing and rebounding, showing strong short-term recovery momentum. The total global stablecoin supply surpassed $301.5 billion, reaching a new all-time high. Meanwhile, USST, a stablecoin launched by Tether co-founder Reeve Collins under the STBL project, has continued to depeg since its debut. Grayscale also filed a Form 10 with the SEC for its Bittensor Trust (TAO), marking a significant step toward full regulatory registration.

On October 13, BTC showed signs of a rebound after briefly dipping to around $102,000. ETH touched a low of $3,394 before quickly stabilizing and rebounding, showing strong short-term recovery momentum. GT found solid support near $14 after a sharp decline, then consolidated and began breaking out with rising volume. In addition, tokens such as SNX (+87.3%), DASH (+50%), and TAO (+40.1%) posted strong rebounds as capital rapidly flowed back into the Privacy and DeFi sectors, reigniting market momentum. The total global stablecoin supply surpassed $301.5 billion, reaching a new all-time high. Meanwhile, USST, a stablecoin launched by Tether co-founder Reeve Collins under the STBL project, has continued to depeg since its debut. Grayscale also filed a Form 10 with the SEC for its Bittensor Trust (TAO), marking a significant step toward full regulatory registration.

Gate Research Daily Report: On Sep 26, BTC fell below $109K and ETH slipped under $3,900 as markets came under pressure; XPL surged 178% on Plasma mainnet launch; SQD and SKX gained 65% and 25% on tech integration and ecosystem growth; new tariffs and regulatory probes fueled risk-off sentiment, wiping over 4.5% from crypto market cap.

Gate Research Daily Report: On Sep 26, BTC fell below $109K and ETH slipped under $3,900 as markets came under pressure; XPL surged 178% on Plasma mainnet launch; SQD and SKX gained 65% and 25% on tech integration and ecosystem growth; new tariffs and regulatory probes fueled risk-off sentiment, wiping over 4.5% from crypto market cap.

From September 9 to September 22, 2025, both BTC and ETH remained in a high-level consolidation phase, with divergences emerging between price structure and volatility performance, indicating overall weak short-term momentum. On the derivatives side, BTC open interest retreated significantly from recent highs, while ETH held relatively steady, suggesting that leveraged positions have not yet fully exited the market. On September 22, long liquidation volume surged to over $1.6 billion, highlighting mounting pressure at market highs and intensifying bearish sentiment due to cascading stop-losses by long positions. In terms of quantitative strategies, a mean-reversion strategy based on Bollinger Bands delivered strong performance on ADA, achieving an annualized return of over 60%, showcasing solid potential for short-term trading.

Gate Research Daily Report: On September 29, BTC led the rebound by breaking above $112,000, while ETH surged all the way to $4,146. KAITO stood out, with over $170 million committed to the Kaito Launchpad. FORM and COW rose 23% and 14% respectively, benefiting from strong buying momentum and short squeezes. Plasma DeFi’s TVL climbed to $5 billion, ranking sixth among DeFi protocols by total value locked.