Bitcoin Hits New All-Time High
Weekly Crypto Brief: On October 5, Bitcoin set a new all-time high at $125,700, breaking its previous record of $124,290 set on August 14. The move was short-lived, as prices slipped back under $124,000 soon after. While the pullback cooled immediate momentum, the breakout confirmed Bitcoin’s continued strength in this macro environment of falling exchange balances and rising ETF inflows. Many now see this as part of a longer Q4 trend rather than a one-day spike.
The past weekend in crypto was full of developments that moved both markets and narratives. From questions around exchange data integrity to large corporate adoption, the signals show a mix of caution and strong optimism. Let’s go through what happened and what’s coming next.
Concerns Around Aster
DefiLlama announced the removal of Aster’s perpetual trading volume data because of integrity concerns. Reports suggested that Aster’s volume was almost perfectly correlated with Binance’s data, raising doubts about accuracy. Investigations are still ongoing.
Shortly after, $ASTER dropped 15% following the announcement of an airdrop without a lock-up period. This means 4% of the total supply could hit the market on October 14. Some traders expect price pressure before buybacks begin.
At the same time, analysts highlighted that October is heavy with token unlocks, over $3.9 billion in total, with Aster, Sui, and XPL among the largest.
Market Signals and Investor Behavior
Over the past week, more than $1.6 billion in short positions were liquidated, showing just how one-sided the market became during the latest rally.
Alongside this, the famous “golden cross” signal has reappeared in the altcoin market. Back in 2017, this same technical signal marked the beginning of a rally of over 19,000%. Whether history will repeat itself is still uncertain, but the market has taken note.
Bitcoin supply on exchanges fell sharply, dropping by 170,000 BTC in just 30 days, the lowest level in five years. This suggests strong conviction from holders, preferring storage over selling. ETF flows supported this trend: Bitcoin funds saw +$2 billion in inflows last week, while Ethereum ETFs gained +$1.3 billion.
Adoption and Partnerships
Adoption news was also strong. CNBC reported that Walmart will begin accepting Bitcoin and other digital assets through OnePay Cash. This brings crypto directly into the retail sector at scale.
In another big step, Coinbase announced a partnership with Samsung. Through Samsung Pay, millions of Galaxy users in the U.S. can now access crypto directly. Coinbase One was also offered free to 75 million U.S. users, easing onboarding.
Traditional media shifted in tone as well. On CNBC, analysts openly discussed Bitcoin’s bullish setup for Q4, hinting at possible institutional entry or, at least, growing retail excitement.
Network and Exchange Growth
On the infrastructure side, Sei Network has not only crossed 4.1 billion transactions since launch but has also seen trading volumes triple in just seven days. Moreover, the network now handles over 4.45 million daily transactions and more than 70 million wallets, which underscores its accelerating adoption. At the same time, Tron continued to dominate activity, accounting for 279 million transactions in September out of a global total of 642 million. In addition, this steady lead highlights Tron’s resilience even as newer networks gain traction. Ultimately, both Sei’s rapid growth and Tron’s consistent dominance illustrate how competition within blockchain infrastructure is intensifying across the ecosystem.
Meanwhile, the biggest exchange in Russia formally requested regulators to lift the ban on retail crypto trading. If granted, this could open a massive new demand channel in the region.
Mining and Accumulation
Marathon Digital (MARA) continued its accumulation strategy, adding 373 BTC in September. This pushed its total holdings beyond $6 billion in value. The company remains one of the most aggressive institutional miners building long-term reserves.
Macro and U.S. Economic Picture
The U.S. economy is entering uncharted territory. The Federal Reserve cut rates even though Core PCE inflation sits at +2.9%, the first time in 30 years that cuts happened under such conditions. Job market expectations are worsening, while the fiscal deficit has risen above $2 trillion annually.
Adding more complexity, the U.S. government shutdown is delaying critical reports, including jobs data, which leaves investors with less clarity. Even so, markets still expect two more rate cuts in 2025, a view that continues to push both risk assets and so-called “real” assets higher. At the same time, large tech firms the “Mag 7” are now spending over $100 billion per quarter on artificial intelligence, further fueling the growing narrative that investors must either own productive assets or risk being left behind.
This week, the calendar is packed:
- Tuesday: New York Fed inflation expectations
- Wednesday: FOMC meeting minutes
- Thursday: Jerome Powell speech
- Friday: Michigan consumer sentiment and expectations, plus September jobs report (if the shutdown ends).
Each of these will be compared closely with Fed rate decisions. If Powell signals more easing, the bullish case for crypto could grow even stronger.
Token Unlocks
Aethir (ATH)
Unlock Value: 68.06M USDT
% of Circulating supply: 10.32%
Number of Tokens: 1.26B ATH
Aptos (APT)
Unlock Value: 61.53M USDT
% of Circulating supply: 1.61%
Number of Tokens: 11.31M APT
Linea (LINEA)
Unlock Value: 29.12M USDT
% of Circulating supply: 6.98%
Number of Tokens: 1.08B LINEA
Babylon (BABY)
Unlock Value: 16.98M USDT
% of Circulating supply: 12.02%
Number of Tokens: 321.60M BABY
BounceBit (BB)
Unlock Value: 8.49M USDT
% of Circulating supply: 10.47%
Number of Tokens: 42.89M BB
Defi App (HOME)
Unlock Value: 7.45M USDT
% of Circulating supply: 9.19%
Number of Tokens: 250.00M HOME
io.net (IO)
Unlock Value: 7.40M USDT
% of Circulating supply: 6.11%
Number of Tokens: 13.29M IO
Movement (MOVE)
Unlock Value: 5.71M USDT
% of Circulating supply: 1.82%
Number of Tokens: 50.00M MOVE
Solana (SOL)
Unlock Value: 115.16M USDT
% of Circulating supply: 0.09%
Number of Tokens: 499.47K SOL
TRUMP (TRUMP)
Unlock Value: 38.05M USDT
% of Circulating supply: 1.52%
Number of Tokens: 4.89M TRUMP
Worldcoin (WLD)
Unlock Value: 46.90M USDT
% of Circulating supply: 0.97%
Number of Tokens: 37.23M WLD
Dogecoin (DOGE)
Unlock Value: 23.06M USDT
% of Circulating supply: 0.06%
Number of Tokens: 96.54M DOGE
Story (IP)
Unlock Value: 22.41M USDT
% of Circulating supply: 0.73%
Number of Tokens: 2.32M IP
Avalanche (AVAX)
Unlock Value: 21.15M USDT
% of Circulating supply: 0.14%
Number of Tokens: 700.00K AVAX
Aster (ASTER)
Unlock Value: 19.44M USDT
% of Circulating supply: 0.30%
Number of Tokens: 10.28M ASTER
Celestia (TIA)
Unlock Value: 11.94M USDT
% of Circulating supply: 0.90%
Number of Tokens: 6.96M TIA
Sui (SUI)
Unlock Value: 10.79M USDT
% of Circulating supply: 0.09%
Number of Tokens: 3.01M SUI
Ether.Fi (ETHFI)
Unlock Value: 15.44M USDT
% of Circulating supply: 2.04%
Number of Tokens: 8.46M ETHFI
Polkadot (DOT)
Unlock Value: 9.55M USDT
% of Circulating supply: 0.14%
Number of Tokens: 2.30M DOT
Bittensor (TAO)
Unlock Value: 7.99M USDT
% of Circulating supply: 0.33%
Number of Tokens: 34.14K TAO
NEAR Protocol (NEAR)
Unlock Value: 8.84M USDT
% of Circulating supply: 0.25%
Number of Tokens: 2.97M NEAR
Final Thoughts
This weekend highlighted two extremes. On one hand, concerns about transparency surfaced in smaller projects like Aster. On the other hand, major steps toward mainstream adoption emerged with Walmart and Samsung making headlines. Meanwhile, the Fed’s policy decisions continue to stand out as the key driver for the quarter ahead. In addition, with billions in token unlocks scheduled and a macro environment steadily pushing investors toward assets, the coming weeks will ultimately test just how much conviction crypto markets truly hold.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not represent financial advice. Always do your own research (DYOR). You can explore more insights on blog.millionero.com and trade both spot and perpetuals directly on Millionero.