A bitcoin ATM in Hong Kong (S3studio/Getty Images)

Uptober

Bitcoin and its spot ETFs continue to hit new records

On Monday, bitcoin crossed $126,000 for the first time while bitcoin ETFs saw $1.2 billion in inflows.

10/7/25 11:26AM

Bitcoin just keeps notching all-time highs. Just two days following its previous all-time high, the asset passed $126,000 for the first time on Monday, a more than 100% jump from where it stood a year ago at $62,800.

JPMorgan analysts wrote that increased institutional interest combined with the “debasement trade,” including macro uncertainty, “waning confidence in fiat currencies in certain emerging markets,” and “persistently high government deficits across major economies,” are continuing to fuel the rally, though bitcoin has sold off on Tuesday morning and is hovering around $123,000.

Sam Callahan, director of bitcoin strategy and research at newly listed OranjeBTC, told Sherwood News that investors are increasingly gravitating to hard money as perceived risks around fiscal sustainability and currency debasement rise.

“Bitcoin at record highs is consistent with a world where global debt is sitting around $340 trillion and major governments continue to run multitrillion-dollar deficits,” he said.

Bitcoin ETFs also saw record inflows on Monday, amassing over $1.2 billion, the largest amount since their inception in January 2024. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust took in the bulk of yesterday’s inflows, racking up $969.95 million, SoSoValue data shows.

BlackRock’s fund is nearing $100 billion in assets under management, and is also BlackRock’s most profitable ETF, according to Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas, who noted in a post on X that the rest of the firm’s top 10 ETFs are decades old, while IBIT is not even 2.

$IBIT a hair away from $100 billion, is now the most profitable ETF for BlackRock by a good amount now based on current aum. Check out the ages of the rest of the Top 10. Absurd. pic.twitter.com/E8ZMI2wynx
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) October 6, 2025

David Siemer, CEO and cofounder of Wave Digital Assets, said that ETF inflows continue to be a massive catalyst, pulling in fresh institutional capital at an unprecedented pace.

“At the same time, the Fed’s pivot toward rate cuts has weakened the dollar and boosted risk appetite across the board, with crypto benefiting disproportionately. Add to macro uncertainty surrounding the US government shutdown, and you’ve got an environment where even modest demand creates outsized moves,” Siemer said.

VanEck’s head of digital assets research, Matthew Sigel, predicted in a post on X that bitcoin “should reach half of gold’s market cap after the next halving... At today’s record gold price, that implies an equivalent value of $644,000 per BTC.” That said, the next halving will likely happen in 2028, so time will tell.

Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy

Bitcoin tumbles as oil and gas prices spike and the market’s mood turns risk-off

Bitcoin ETFs reverted to outflows and bitcoin suffered $192 million in liquidations in the past 24 hours.

Sage D. Young3/18/26

Payward, parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, puts plans for IPO on hold

Payward, crypto exchange Kraken’s parent company, has paused its plans for an initial public offering until market conditions improve, according to a report from CoinDesk that cited two people with knowledge of the matter.

Since the firm announced in November its preparation for an IPO of its common stock, the total market capitalization of the crypto industry has shed around $652.2 billion, from $3.2 trillion to $2.5 trillion as of Wednesday, data from CoinGecko shows.

The news comes two weeks after Kraken received approval for a master account from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, allowing the crypto exchange to connect to the Fed’s payment infrastructure used by traditional banks and credit unions.

Last year, Kraken raised $800 million at a $20 billion valuation from institutional investors such as Jane Street and Citadel Securities.

Payward, parent of crypto exchange Kraken, has put its IPO plans on hold

Last year, Kraken raised $800 million at a $20 billion valuation from institutional investors such as Jane Street and Citadel Securities.

Sage D. Young3/18/26

SEC and CFTC issue new guidance on how securities laws apply to crypto assets

On Tuesday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission, together with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, issued an interpretation clarifying how federal securities law applies to crypto assets, a first step toward developing a clearer regulatory framework.

The interpretive guidance introduces a token taxonomy for different types of cryptocurrencies, with SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins adding that “most crypto assets are not themselves securities.”

Examples of a digital commodity, “a crypto asset that is intrinsically linked to and derives its value from the programmatic operation of a crypto system that is ‘functional,’” include:

Aptos, avalanche, bitcoin, bitcoin cash, cardano, chainlink, dogecoin, ethereum, hedera, litecoin, polkadot, shiba inu, solana, stellar, tezos, and XRP.

The guidance also includes definitions of digital collectibles (such as NFTs), stablecoins, digital tools, and digital securities (such as tokenized real-world assets and stocks).

This is a monumental step in the mainstream adoption of the industry and clears a hurdle in how crypto can operate going forward, according to David Pakman, head of venture investments at CoinFund. “This will allow new token designs with the confidence that their existence does not require registration with the SEC, etc.,” Pakman told Sherwood News.

Despite the clarification efforts from the two organizations, the market capitalization of the crypto industry has dropped about 2% in the last 24 hours as each of the tokens mentioned in the guidance are trading lower in the period, data from CoinGecko shows.

The joint agency action also complements congressional efforts to turn a crypto market structure framework into law. With the goal of providing regulations on the offer and sale of digital commodities, the CLARITY Act passed the House of Representatives last year and is now sitting in the Senate.

Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy

3/18/26

Citi analysts cut 12-month bitcoin projection to $112,000 from $143,000

The analysts’ bear-case scenario is $57,537, based on “recessionary macro-factors, especially weak equity markets,” which could cause ETF flows to stall.

Sage D. Young3/17/26

Bitcoin sees 8 consecutive days of gains, a streak not seen in 4 years

Bitcoin is on a winning streak. The cryptocurrency has generated eight straight days of positive returns, a rare phenomenon that has occurred only 15 times since Satoshi Nakamoto created it, according to a CoinDesk report.

In the 30 days after posting an eight-day streak, bitcoin traded higher nine times and lower six times. The median return in the period is roughly 19%. Despite the historical gains that followed, the last time bitcoin had such a rally, four years ago, it dropped roughly 30%.

Most recently, bitcoin climbed from below $66,000 on March 8 to over $75,000 yesterday before settling around $73,800 on Tuesday morning.

Traders remain modestly bullish on the likelihood of further gains, though the sentiment is fading: prediction market-implied odds of bitcoin trading above $77,500 in the month stand at 54%, a decrease from 73% on Monday.

(Event contracts are offered through Robinhood Derivatives, LLC — probabilities referenced or sourced from KalshiEx LLC or ForecastEx LLC.)

Bitcoin hits rare 8-day winning streak – but 2022 bear market saw one too