Chain Reactions: Daily Crypto Insights for Q4 Momentum

Happy Monday, TM Family!

Welcome to the Token Metrics Research | Daily newsletter, where we cover key market movements, regulatory updates, and early alpha for our readers and investors. 

Let's dive in! 

The Token Metrics Team will be attending TOKEN2049.

Token2049 is the world's largest crypto event. From October 1 to 2, 2025, over 25,000 attendees, 500+ exhibitors, and 300 speakers will take over all five floors of the iconic Marina Bay Sands, transforming it into a pop-up city for the global cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Expect an exceptional speaker lineup, an electric expo, 1,000+ side events across TOKEN2049 Week, and a festival unlike anything you've experienced - all under one roof.

Come connect with us there!

Today's edition of Token Metrics Research | Daily Newsletter is brought to you by Wallstreet Prep.

The Wharton Online + Wall Street Prep Private Equity Certificate Program gives you the knowledge and tools top professionals use to analyze investment opportunities.

Plus, join an active network of 5,000+ graduates from all over the world.

Enroll today and save $300 with code SAVE300.

Program begins October 6.

Enroll Today

 Now let's get back to the top stories of the day.

As we edge into Q4, blockchain integration into traditional finance is accelerating, and SWIFT's latest moves underscore this shift. The global payments giant, serving over 11,500 institutions across more than 200 countries, has unveiled plans to embed a blockchain-based shared ledger into its core infrastructure, starting with real-time, 24/7 cross-border payments.

This ledger, built on a conceptual prototype from Consensys, will leverage smart contracts to record, sequence, and validate transactions while enforcing compliance rules. Over 30 major banks, including Santander, Bank of America, BNP Paribas, and HSBC, are providing feedback for implementation, with live trials slated for 2025.

Adding depth, SWIFT is piloting on-chain messaging via Consensys' Ethereum Layer 2 network, Linea, involving about a dozen international banks to test innovations in global communication. While stablecoin issuance and interbank tokens remain under review, this signals SWIFT's proactive stance against disruption from digital assets, such as stablecoins.

For crypto natives, this isn't just traditional finance (TradFi) adoption; it's a potential interoperability boon, extending SWIFT's messaging layer to tokenized ecosystems without overwhelming blockchains with data synchronization demands.

Expect this to catalyze more tokenized asset flows, but be aware of potential regulatory hurdles as MiCA and similar frameworks evolve. This is a long-term positive for Ethereum-layer projects, potentially boosting on-chain liquidity in regulated environments.

Market sentiment remains choppy as we close September. Ethereum reclaims key levels despite heavy ETF pressure, while Bitcoin faces technical hurdles and ancient whales resurface.

Spot Ethereum ETFs experienced their worst week since launch, with $795.6M in outflows as of September 26. This was driven by macro jitters and liquidations that briefly pushed ETH below $4,000.

BlackRock's ETHA and Fidelity's FETH bore the brunt, with $200M and $362M, respectively, amid $10B+ in trading volume. Yet, ETH bounced back above $4,000 over the weekend, trading at ~$4,020, buoyed by institutional flows.

Ethereum now leads in USDT supply at $77B, overtaking Tron's $76.23B after a $17B surge since May. This flip underscores ETH's edge in institutional settlements, with daily USDT transactions averaging 400K and network activity topping 1.64M.

On the BTC side, a dormant wallet holding $44M (400 BTC) activated after 12 years, dispersing funds in batches, likely profit-taking amid BTC's 830x value surge from $135 to $111,804.

This joins a wave of Satoshi-era movements, including a $50M wallet revival on Sept. 11 and Galaxy Digital's $9B+ sale in July. Meanwhile, BTC's 2.5% gain to $112K created a CME futures gap at $110K-$111.3K, often a magnet for pullbacks, even as "Uptober" historically delivers 22% average returns.

Spot BTC ETFs echoed the pain with $902.5M outflows, including a $418.3M single-day hit. Derivatives show cooling bullishness, with OI dropping to $29B and negative funding rates signaling caution. For investors, this setup screams volatility: dip-buy ETH for its stablecoin dominance, but hedge BTC longs ahead of the jobs report. Uptober could start with a bang or a retrace.

This edition of the newsletter is co-presented by 1440 Media.

Overwhelmed by biased news? Cut through the clutter and get straight facts with your daily 1440 digest. From politics to sports, join millions who start their day informed.

Sign up now!

Now, let's continue with the top stories of the day.

Innovation never sleeps in crypto, with Layer 1 enhancements and RWA tokenization heating up. Solana's Firedancer team proposed SIMD-0370 to eliminate the 60M CU block limit after the Alpenglow upgrade, allowing validators to dynamically scale based on hardware by skipping unprocessable blocks.

This could create a "performance flywheel," incentivizing upgrades and boosting throughput during peaks, but risks centralization as bigger validators dominate. Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko called arguments "vague," questioning short-term UX gains. Alpenglow itself slashes finality to 150ms from 12.8s, setting Solana up for hyper-scalability if approved after testing.

In DeFi, Hyperliquid airdropped 4,600 Hypurr NFTs on its HyperEVM mainnet, rewarding early supporters with unique cat-themed collectibles. 4,313 were given to Genesis participants, and the remainder was allocated to developers and artists.

Trading volume hit $45M (952K HYPE), with a floor of 1,463 HYPE (~$69K) and one sale at nearly $470K; HYPE rose 4.65% to $47.14. It is not guaranteed utility, but it revives NFT hype, signaling community-driven value in perp trading ecosystems.

Rounding out, ChinaAMC launched a $500M tokenized money market fund on Ethereum via Libeara. The fund invests in short-term deposits for stable HKD-denominated returns at 0.05% fees.

With $502M deployed, it's the 11th-largest tokenized product amid $30B+ in RWAs (up 7% MoM). Despite Beijing's RWA pause in Hong Kong for verification, this is a test of blockchain compliance in Asia.

For our audience, betting on Solana's upgrades for TPS is promising. Monitor Hyperliquid for DeFi-NFT crossovers, and eye ETH RWAs as institutions pile in. Centralization risks notwithstanding, these could drive Q4 narratives.

The business side of crypto is buzzing with mergers, listings, and partnerships, but regulatory clouds loom. Digital Asset Treasuries (DATs) are plotting growth: Strive's all-stock acquisition of Semler Scientific creates an 11K BTC powerhouse post a $675M buy of 5,885 coins, the first DAT merger.

Strategies include cash-flow acquisitions to offset dilution, ditching SPACs for legitimate mergers, and lending operations like FRNT's deal with a $100M DAT. Japan's Metaplanet is eyeing similar buys, signaling a consolidation wave for bitcoin treasuries.

Revolut, the 65M-user fintech with crypto trading arms, is mulling a $75B dual IPO in London and New York, per sources, up from a $65B valuation target earlier this year. CEO Nik Storonsky's U.K. pivot (despite past stamp duty gripes) aligns with FTSE fast-tracking rules, potentially injecting liquidity into crypto-adjacent stocks.

In payments, AllUnity's EURAU stablecoin (BaFin-licensed) partners with Stripe's Privy for embedded wallets, enabling real-time euro payouts and DeFi yields for fintechs and merchants. This bridges fiat and stablecoins ahead of MiCA in 2026, spotlighting euro-denominated crypto underuse.

Tempering optimism, Vitalik Buterin slammed the EU's chat monitoring bill, backed by 15 countries but needing more votes, as a privacy killer that creates hackable backdoors that clash with EU Charter rights. Experts say it could spur Web3 adoption for decentralized comms, but risks millions of users' data.

We see DAT M&A as a buy signal for BTC exposure, Revolut's listing as mainstream validation, and EURAU as a MiCA play, yet Vitalik's warning reminds us: privacy regulations could redefine crypto's edge; Germany's vote is key.

Today's newsletter is also powered by I Hate It Here.

The best HR advice comes from those in the trenches. That’s what this is: real-world HR insights delivered in a newsletter from Hebba Youssef, a Chief People Officer who’s been there. Practical, real strategies with a dash of humor. Because HR shouldn’t be thankless—and you shouldn’t be alone in it.

Sign Up Free

That's all for today. Let's talk tomorrow.