Today: Stablecoins rise as fear lingers

Fear remains the dominant emotion across the market. The Fear and Greed Index sits at 32, while the Altseason Index lags behind at 24, showing that capital rotation toward altcoins is still limited. Risk appetite remains subdued, with investors staying defensive and major tokens maintaining dominance.
 
 
Despite the weak sentiment, liquidity continues to build quietly beneath the surface. Stablecoins recorded $234M in inflows on October 23. Simultaneously, there was an inflow of $551.53M USDT, and outflow of $301.6M USDC, pushing total supply to $265.45B.
 
 
On October 23, excluding BlackRock data, BTC ETFs saw an outflow of 87.5M, while ETH ETFs saw an outflow of 104M. ETF flows reflected moderate outflows, signaling lingering caution among institutions.
 
 
 
 

Macro and policy

Traditional markets

  • Equities: The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.31%, the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.89%, and the S&P 500 advanced 0.58%, as risk appetite improved slightly.
  • Treasuries and dollars: The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield climbed 1.26% to 4.01%, while the U.S. Dollar Index hovered around 98.97, suggesting neutral momentum.
  • Gold: Prices rose 1.13% to $4,142.44, supported by defensive positioning.
With liquidity tightening and short-term funding conditions strained, strategists from JPMorgan and Bank of America anticipate that the Federal Reserve may halt its balance sheet reduction of around $6.6T during the upcoming October FOMC meeting. The move could mark an end to a year-long liquidity drain.
 

Policy direction

  • China–U.S. relations: The U.S. Trade Representative confirmed preparations for a potential leaders' meeting at the Asia Summit in South Korea, though Beijing has yet to confirm attendance.
      Meanwhile, the Trump administration is reviewing a proposal to restrict global exports of products containing U.S. software to China, signaling renewed trade caution.
  • Crypto regulation:
      White House crypto and AI lead David Sacks met with senators and Democratic lawmakers, expressing optimism that bipartisan legislation on crypto market structure could pass this year. The measure builds on Trump's earlier Stablecoin Innovation GENIUS Act, which aimed to bring clearer oversight to digital assets.
In a separate development, Trump officially pardoned CZ, a decision that drew wide attention and briefly lifted sentiment in related markets.
 

Institutional and whale moves

  • Polymarket was named exclusive prediction-market partner for the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) and Major League Pickleball (MLP), expanding blockchain use in live sports events.
  • Hong Kong's SFC approved the Huaxia Solana ETF for listing on the HKEX. While Hong Kong permits staking for virtual-asset ETFs, this particular fund will not include staking.
  • A large Solana investor who had received 1M SOL in allocations sold the final 743K HYPE (worth $28.21M) after a 10-month holding period, earning a $23.83 M profit. The proceeds of 93.64M USDC were rotated back into 502.9K SOL at an average of $186.20.

Industry highlights

Meteora misses expectations
Despite ranking among Solana's top three projects and generating $1.13B in fees this year, Meteora's FDV remains at $500M, well below projections of $2 to 3B FDV. Class-action litigation and limited exchange listings have constrained sentiment, leaving investors cautious on near-term performance.
 

Solana activity strengthens

Solana's domestic presence continues to grow, with heightened community engagement and project expansion suggesting that the ecosystem's momentum is gradually recovering.
 

Robinhood expands prediction markets

The platform's prediction market, powered by Kalshi, saw Q2 revenue of $10M and $1B in volume, routing trades from its app to KalshiEX for P2P execution.

Alpha insights

  • Byreal DEX: At ETH Shanghai 2025, BlockFocus founder Finn revealed plans to prioritize Byreal, a Solana-based DEX built for centralized liquidity and DeFi transparency.
  • Opinion prediction market: Backed by YZi Labs, the Opinion platform launched on BNB Chain, opening whitelist invites with a points and rebate system.
  • Aster's Rocket Launch: New mechanism supports early projects through dual reward pools funded by ASTER and partner tokens. Participants must meet volume and holding thresholds to qualify.
  • Stable's $850M event: Stable's first deposit campaign was fully booked immediately, underscoring the appetite for high-yield, stablecoin-based opportunities.

Outlook

The market remains in a holding pattern, balancing between fear and quiet accumulation. While retail sentiment is weak, the underlying liquidity picture continues to strengthen.
 
Stablecoin inflows, Solana ecosystem activity, and potential Fed policy shifts point toward an environment where capital is returning strategically, not speculatively.

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