BTC has started to outperform TradFi benchmarks, while gold underperforms. Hyperliquid and Pump.fun continue to generate the most revenue and outperform, with both making product updates to continue growing their lead.

Over the past week, BTC gained +5.58%, outperforming TradFi benchmarks. Gold underperformed by -4.18%, while the Nasdaq 100 rose +2.32% and the S&P 500 rose +2.32%. We saw significant gains on BTC in particular over the weekend. On Sunday alone, BTC rose +2.45%.

Despite this past week’s outperformance, BTC still sits behind Gold in terms of performance over the past month, with the former being up +4.57% and the latter being up +7.44%.

In crypto, DeFi (+13.14%) and No Revenue (+9.77%) and Ethereum ecosystem (+8.11%) posted high weekly returns, while AI (-7.25%) and L2s (-2.18%) underperformed.

Standout performers within DeFi include HYPE (+26.60%), JUP (+24.06%) and PUMP (+21.82%). Notably, all three are historically revenue generating protocols, with buybacks in place, that have rebounded strongly post liquidations on Oct. 10. 

Not all returns have come from DeFi and revenue-generating protocols though. We’ve also seen significant outperformance from the No Revenue index, with XRP (+10.82%) and KAS (+10.81%) leading the way.

On the underperforming side, within the AI index, TAO (-7.59%) and FET (-3.72%) have held down the sector’s returns, while in terms of L2s, ZK (-9.09%) and MNT (-4.35%) have underperformed. Whether BTC holds up outperformance over TradFi benchmarks or not, it is interesting to see that the top performers are either those who are revenue-generating protocols with buybacks, or those that have no revenue generation whatsoever.

— Boccaccio

On Friday’s 0xResearch episode, we covered:

• The challenges of transitioning from crypto trading to equities, noting that crypto requires constant narrative tracking and active monitoring through platforms like Telegram and DexScreener, while equities allow for long-term buy-and-hold strategies with quality businesses that can be forgotten for years.

• The emergence of perpetual futures as the superior trading product, with traditional players like Robinhood launching perps in Europe and crypto platforms expanding into equity perps, creating convergence around this single speculative instrument that offers better leverage control than options.

• MegaETH's upcoming token sale opening on the 27th, which differs from typical L2 approaches by focusing on speed and application diversity rather than governance utility, with the team emphasizing that success depends entirely on whether new apps unlock previously impossible design spaces.

• Mega Mafia ecosystem of builders preparing applications for launch, with diverse use cases beyond the standard six apps typically seen across most L2s.

Find the full livestream on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and X.

This summary was generated with assistance from AI tooling.

Charts of the week

BTC ETFs had $446.3 million of inflows this week (up from $1.23 billion in outflows in the prior week), while ETH ETFs had $243.9 million in outflows (improving from $311.8 million in outflows) and SOL ETFs had $26.9 million (up from $14.1 million). BTC reversed from significant outflows to positive inflows, while ETH outflows decreased and SOL inflows nearly doubled week over week.

Hyperliquid generated $15.86 million in revenue this week (down from $17.19 million last week), while Pump.fun made $9.62 million (up from $9.02 million). Hyperliquid remains the top revenue generator but saw a $2.13 million decline week over week, while Pump.fun increased by $599K. For both Pump and Hyperliquid, we also have meaningful revenue generation catalysts coming up, with Hyperliquid having just announced that HIP-3 markets will be listed on the Hyperliquid frontend as well, and Pump acquiring Padre, a memecoin trading platform, and redirecting fees to its own platform.

BTC DATCOs recorded $18.37 billion in trading volume over the past week, making up 57.8% of total volumes and down from $22.53 billion in the prior week. ETH DATCOs followed with $12.76 billion (40.2% of total volumes), which was lower than the $20.01 billion recorded last week. 

Hyperliquid, BNB and Tron continue to dominate network revenue across L1s and L2s, sitting at 31.7% ($17.19 million), 20.7% ($11.23 million) and 14.9% ($8.10 million), respectively. Hyperliquid has continued to hold up its dominance in terms of revenue week on week despite a $2.27 million decline from $19.46 million, while BNB dropped significantly by $5.77 million from $17.00 million and Tron decreased by $1.13 million from $9.22 million.

— Boccaccio