Gate Research: 2025 October Crypto Market Review

11/17/2025, 1:31:44 AM
Download the Full Report (PDF)
In October 2025, the total cryptocurrency market capitalization exhibited a “rise-then-fall” pattern, reflecting weak market confidence and a stabilizing trend. Driven by the “BTCFi” narrative, Starknet saw new highs in both capital inflows and on-chain activity, with TVL rising from $170 million at the end of September to $245 million. Prediction markets heated up, with Polymarket and Kalshi recording a combined monthly trading volume exceeding $7 billion. Privacy coins made a strong comeback, with ZEC surging more than 440% for the month and leading the rally. On the funding side, the Web3 sector completed 130 deals totaling $5.12 billion, up 28.43% month-over-month, with total capital raised jumping 104.8% — the second-highest level in nearly a year — with funds primarily flowing into DeFi ($2.15 billion) and core infrastructure.

Key Takeaways

  • Crypto Market Performance: In October, the total cryptocurrency market capitalization showed a rise-then-fall pattern — climbing from around $4 trillion to above $4.4 trillion at the beginning of the month, then dropping to roughly $3.8 trillion mid-month, before a mild rebound at the end that still failed to recover the initial levels. This reflected weak market confidence and a stabilizing trend.

  • Major Public Chain Activity: Among leading blockchains, Solana continued to dominate transaction activity, with an average of 80–100 million daily transactions. Base and Polygon PoS followed with roughly 10 million and 4 million daily transactions, respectively, while Ethereum and Arbitrum maintained relatively stable volumes.

  • Trending Ecosystem Developments: Driven by the rise of the “BTCFi” narrative, Starknet saw significant increases in both capital inflows and on-chain activity. Its TVL surged from $170 million at the end of September to $245 million, indicating growing ecosystem momentum and strengthening market confidence.

  • Funding & Security Incidents: The Web3 industry recorded 130 funding deals in October totaling $5.12 billion, representing a 28.43% month-over-month increase and a 104.8% surge in total capital raised, marking the second-highest level in nearly a year. Capital primarily flowed into “innovative finance and infrastructure,” with DeFi leading at $2.15 billion, surpassing blockchain services and CeFi, while application-layer projects experienced a decline in interest.



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Gate Research is a comprehensive blockchain and crypto research platform that provides readers with in-depth content, including technical analysis, hot insights, market reviews, industry research, trend forecasts, and macroeconomic policy analysis.

Disclaimer
Investing in the cryptocurrency market involves high risk. Users are advised to conduct independent research and fully understand the nature of the assets and products before making any investment decisions. Gate is not responsible for any losses or damages arising from such investment decisions.

Author: Puffy, Akane, Shirley, Ember
Reviewer(s): Puffy, Akane, Shirley, Ember
* The information is not intended to be and does not constitute financial advice or any other recommendation of any sort offered or endorsed by Gate.
* This article may not be reproduced, transmitted or copied without referencing Gate. Contravention is an infringement of Copyright Act and may be subject to legal action.

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Crypto Calendar
DeFi Day Del Sur in Buenos Aires
Aave reports that the fourth edition of DeFi Day del Sur will be held in Buenos Aires on November 19th.
AAVE
-1.32%
2025-11-18
DevConnect in Buenos Aires
COTI will participate in DevConnect in Buenos Aires on November 17th-22nd.
COTI
-5.31%
2025-11-21
Tokens Unlock
Hyperliquid will unlock 9,920,000 HYPE tokens on November 29th, constituting approximately 2.97% of the currently circulating supply.
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14.47%
2025-11-28
Abu Dhabi Meetup
Helium will host the Helium House networking event on December 10 in Abu Dhabi, positioned as a prelude to the Solana Breakpoint conference scheduled for December 11–13. The one-day gathering will focus on professional networking, idea exchange and community discussions within the Helium ecosystem.
HNT
-0.85%
2025-12-09
Hayabusa Upgrade
VeChain has unveiled plans for the Hayabusa upgrade, scheduled for December. This upgrade aims to significantly enhance both protocol performance and tokenomics, marking what the team calls the most utility-focused version of VeChain to date.
VET
-3.53%
2025-12-27
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