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- Spooked but still standing
Hi everyone, it seems Halloween came early with markets getting spooked. As we wrap up October, it’s fair to say this month has been a rollercoaster of sharp rallies and steep drawdowns. I’ve seen plenty of posts on CT about people wanting to take a break, and honestly, I recommend it, but don’t leave for good.
Take a moment to reflect on the year and where your edge truly lies so that you can stay laser-focused in the months ahead. Opportunities in crypto will always be there, but they reward patience, clarity and conviction.
With that, here are a few weekend reads to keep your mind engaged while the market takes a breather.
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The trend we’ve seen throughout the month continued to play out yesterday, with Gold up 1.96% while the Nasdaq, S&P 500, and BTC posted losses of -0.35%, -0.42%, and -1.62%, respectively.
The tech-heavy indices were dragged down by Meta and Microsoft as investors grew concerned about their relentless AI spending forecasts. Meta’s stock fell -11.3% in a single day, marking its biggest drop in three years. Meanwhile, the Fed’s hawkish tone continues to weigh on markets, with the odds of a rate cut in December now sitting at 64.8%. Gold bounced strongly after four consecutive sessions of losses, as investors once again turned toward safe-haven assets amid the prolonged US government shutdown.
It was a difficult session for crypto indices, with all major sectors closing deep in the red. The pattern of crypto equities outperforming even in downturns continued, with Crypto, Equities and Miners down only -0.7% and -1.73%, respectively.
The weakest performers were L2 and Launchpad, down -8.9% and -8.7%, respectively, on the day. The Launchpad sector was hit hard by Pump, which makes up 56% of the index. It fell -15.8% after strong gains earlier in the week. L2s also struggled, and even exchange coins like MNT, which had shown exceptional strength during the recent run-up, slipped -9% on the day.
— Kunal
Takeaways from Monday’s 0xResearch livestream:
Market bifurcation: The hosts open by contrasting revenue-generating crypto projects with purely speculative tokens. Despite macro uncertainty, certain assets like XRP continue to outperform, illustrating a clear divide between sustainable business models and hype-driven valuations.
Pump’s acquisition of Padre: Pump’s move to acquire Padre is framed as a strategic play to expand its presence in the memecoin and trading bot ecosystem. The acquisition aims to consolidate liquidity and strengthen product offerings for retail-focused meme trading.
MegaETH’s token sale: The panel discusses MegaETH’s token sale as a milestone for high-performance L1s, citing strong institutional interest but raising questions around valuation, decentralization and network utility post-launch.
Solana’s evolving narrative: Solana’s performance and decentralization trade-offs are revisited, with participants acknowledging its technical advantages in speed and execution. Despite lingering centralization concerns, the network’s innovation continues to attract developers and users.
Venture capital dynamics: The conversation turns to how VC funding influences project direction, valuation and decentralization. The hosts argue that while capital inflows accelerate innovation, they can also introduce gatekeeping and undermine open-access ideals in DeFi.
Integrated financial ecosystems: The panel discusses the trend toward multi-product DeFi platforms — combining trading, lending and payments in unified interfaces. This integration, the hosts note, could redefine user engagement and pave the way for crypto “super apps.”
Look for the full podcast on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and X.
This summary was generated with assistance from AI tooling.
Blockworks published a report on Flying Tulip, a full-stack onchain exchange integrating spot, perps, lending, insurance and a native stablecoin under one unified architecture. The protocol’s standout feature is a raise mechanism where investors receive a perpetual PUT option allowing redemption at par, offering downside protection while the project deploys capital into low-risk yield strategies. The analysis notes that the $1 billion valuation hinges on successful delivery of its permissionless perps within 24 months and that the team’s compensation depends entirely on revenue-funded token buybacks, aligning incentives but adding execution risk. Read more
Canton Network released a guide outlining how it’s uniting traditional finance and DeFi under one interoperable framework. With over 600 validators and $6 trillion in onchain assets, Canton enables institutions like Goldman Sachs and Circle to issue, trade and settle assets with privacy and regulatory compliance. The report highlights tokenized real-world assets, stablecoins, custody and liquidity providers, and robust developer tools as key pillars of the ecosystem. Positioned as the first “AllFi” blockchain, Canton is emerging as the leading venue where institutional finance and crypto infrastructure converge. Read more
Castle Labs published a report on Morpho, highlighting its rise as DeFi’s most modular, permissionless lending protocol for fintechs, exchanges and institutions. With around $8 billion in TVL and major integrations like Coinbase’s cbBTC-USDC loans, Morpho has become the largest protocol on Base and a core liquidity layer across 29 chains. Vaults v2 introduces adapters, gated access and advanced risk caps, while the upcoming Markets v2 will enable fixed-rate, multi-collateral and cross-chain lending. This will cement Morpho’s position as the universal onchain credit layer. Read more
1kx’s report shows onchain revenue has become a $20 billion economy in 2025, driven mainly by applications rather than blockchains. DeFi and finance protocols now generate about two-thirds of all fees as cheaper L2s push value capture up the stack. Value distribution to token holders is at record highs, while valuations remain skewed toward L1s. New leaders like Hyperliquid, Meteora and Raydium are gaining share quickly, and emerging sectors are compounding at triple-digit rates. With clearer regulation, 1kx projects over $32 billion in onchain fees for 2026 to be almost entirely application-driven. Read more
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