$11B Bitcoin Whale Returns, DeFi Hits $237B Record: Finance Redefined

Cryptocurrency markets showed signs of consolidation in the second week of October, even as investors continue to bet on another “Uptober” rally to new highs.

Also in the news this week, an $11 billion Bitcoin (BTC) whale returned after a two-month hiatus to transfer another $360 million worth of Bitcoin, signaling a potential shift to the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, with an additional $5 billion remaining in its wallet.

In another potential catalyst for Uptober, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has received 31 applications for cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs), with 21 of them filed within the first eight days of October.

However, the ongoing government shutdown may slow regulatory response to these requests, with the SEC stating that it will operate “under modified conditions” with “a very limited number of staff” until the funding bill is passed.

With Democrats and Republicans failing to reach an agreement for the seventh time on Thursday, the government shutdown will extend into next week, with the Senate leaving town until Tuesday, CBS News reported. I mentioned.

$11 Billion Bitcoin Whale Returns With $360 Million Bitcoin Transfer Two Months Later

A Bitcoin whale that owned about $11 billion worth of Bitcoin before transferring more than $5 billion from its stash to Ethereum (ETH) two months ago has returned to the cryptocurrency market with another transfer worth $360 million worth of Bitcoin.

A whale address transferred $360 million worth of Bitcoin to the decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Hyperunit’s hot wallet “bc1pd” on Tuesday. This was their first transfer in two months. According to To the Arkham blockchain data platform.

The transfer may indicate another shift into the ether, based on Pisces’ transactional patterns.

An $11 billion Bitcoin whale emerged two months ago and rolled about $5 billion worth of bitcoin into ether, briefly surpassing the second-largest treasury company, Sharplink, in terms of total Ethereum holdings, Cointelegraph reported on September 1.

The whale still held over $5 billion worth of bitcoin in its main wallet as of Wednesday, indicating more potential selling pressure on the world’s first cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin whales began converting their funds into Ether on August 21 when they sold $2.59 billion in Bitcoin for $2.2 billion in Ethereum and a perpetual long position in Ethereum worth $577 million.

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DeFi TVL reaches record $237 billion as daily active wallets drop 22% in Q3: DappRadar

The decentralized application (DApp) industry finished the third quarter of 2025 with mixed results, as decentralized finance (DeFi) liquidity rose to a record high while user activity declined sharply, according to new data from DappRadar.

In a report sent to Cointelegraph, DappRadar He said The average number of unique daily active wallets was 18.7 million in Q3, down 22.4% from Q2. Meanwhile, DeFi protocols have collectively recorded $237 billion, the highest total value locked (TVL) ever recorded in the industry.

The report highlighted the continuing divergence between the flow of institutional capital into blockchain-based financial platforms and retail user engagement with decentralized applications. While DeFi TVL has reached record levels of liquidity, overall activity has lagged, indicating weak retail participation.

“Looking at the entire quarter, each category saw a decline in active portfolios, but the impact was mostly felt in the Social and AI categories,” DappRadar wrote. AI-focused dApps lost more than 1.7 million users, going from a daily average of 4.8 million in Q2 to 3.1 million in Q3, while SocialFi DApps rose from 3.8 million to 1.5 million in Q3.

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New Japanese Prime Minister May Boost Crypto Economy, ‘Improve’ Blockchain Regulations

Newly elected Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaishi may open the door to more “refined” regulations to boost the country’s cryptocurrency economy, which may be set to emerge as the next global hub for cryptocurrency companies.

Takaishi was elected leader of the Liberal Democratic Party on Saturday and is set to become Japan’s first female prime minister when she takes office on October 15.

Experts say its leadership may offer a more open stance toward technological experimentation, including blockchain innovation, while maintaining Japan’s strict regulatory standards.

Takaishi’s election could have a “material impact on the perception and management of digital assets within the country,” according to Elisenda Fabrega, general counsel at tokenization platform Brickken.

In previous public stances, Takeshi has expressed support for “technological sovereignty,” citing “the strategic development of digital infrastructure, including blockchain technology,” Fabrega told Cointelegraph. “From a legal perspective, this suggests that her administration may adopt a stance that is not only lenient, but potentially proactive in promoting the digital economy.”

Fabrega added that Takaishi’s political status may reinforce Japan’s “commitment to legal certainty in the crypto space” and renew interest in the country as an innovation-friendly crypto hub.

The Japanese government recognizes blockchain as a “pillar of its digital transformation strategy,” said Martin Henskens, chief operating officer of Startel Group and president of the Astar Foundation.

“A more flexible monetary outlook under new leadership could preserve liquidity and fuel investor appetite for alternative assets, including cryptocurrencies,” Henskins told Cointelegraph.

“At Startale and Astar, we see this as a strong environment to further develop the Web3 ecosystem in Japan,” he added.

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Internet blackout in Afghanistan is a ‘wake-up call’ for blockchain decentralization

The recent nationwide internet outage in Afghanistan has highlighted a critical weakness in the world’s leading decentralized blockchains: their reliance on centralized internet service providers that remain vulnerable to government interference and technical failure.

The country suffered a near-total internet shutdown that lasted about 48 hours before connectivity was restored on October 1, according to Reuters. I mentioned. The disruption was reportedly carried out by order of the Taliban administration, although officials later blamed “technical problems” with fiber optic cables.

While blockchains aim to provide people with a public, censorship-resistant network to transfer value, their reliance on centralized internet providers makes these use cases difficult during outages.

“The blackouts in Afghanistan are not just a regional connectivity crisis: they are a wake-up call,” said Mikhail Angelov, co-founder of decentralized WiFi platform Roam Network. “When communication is monopolized by a few central providers, the promise of blockchain can collapse overnight,” he added.

The nationwide outage of mobile internet and data services affected about 13 million residents, according to September a report From ABC News. It was the first nationwide internet shutdown under Taliban rule, following regional restrictions imposed earlier in September to limit online activities deemed “immoral.”

The Taliban denied the ban, blaming the internet outage on technical problems, including problems with fiber optic cables.

Iran has also faced problems of Internet censorship since the beginning of its conflict with Israel.

The Iranian government shut down internet access for 13 days in June, except for local messaging apps, prompting Iranians to search for hidden internet proxy links for temporary access, The Guardian I mentioned On June 25th.

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$10 Billion of Ethereum Waiting to Exit as Validator Withdrawals Mount

Ethereum recorded its largest validator exit ever this week, with more than 2.4 million ether worth over $10 billion waiting to withdraw from its Proof of Stake network, but institutional participants are replacing much of that in the validator entry queue.

The Ethereum exit queue surpassed 2.4 million ether worth over $10 billion on Wednesday. The significant increase in the number of exits extended the auditor’s waiting time to more than 41 days and 21 hours, According to To blockchain data from ValidatorQueue.com.

Validators are responsible for adding new blocks and verifying transactions on the Ethereum network, and play a crucial role in its operation.

“Large withdrawals always mean there is an opportunity to sell tokens, but they do not necessarily equate to token sales,” said Nikolai Sondergaard, a research analyst at cryptocurrency intelligence platform Nansen, adding that “there is no need to worry about this alone.”

While the $10 billion withdrawal queue is large, validators will likely “merge 32 ETH into 2,048 ETH stakes to achieve operational efficiency,” according to Marcin Kazmierczak, co-founder of blockchain oracle company Redstone.

This includes increased flows into liquid mortgage protocols to improve “capital efficiency,” he told Cointelegraph, adding:

“A significant portion of the withdrawn ETH is redeployed within DeFi, not sold.”

“A withdrawal wait time of more than 44 days creates a natural throttle that prevents supply shocks,” he explained, adding that Ethereum’s daily volume of $50 billion is still five times larger than the validator queue.

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DeFi Market Overview

According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, most of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market cap ended the week in the green.

Privacy-preserving token Zcash (ZEC) rose more than 68% to become this week’s biggest gainer among the top 100 coins for the second week in a row. Mantle Token (MNT) rose more than 18% in its second-best performance of the week.

Thanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights, and education regarding this dynamically advancing space.