What really happened in the crypto market in October? Binance offers insights

The market recorded its first Red October in seven years, but several sectors witnessed growth and development.

October was a very eventful month for the crypto industry. In addition to posting negative returns for the first time since 2018, the month also witnessed several developments that could impact the price trajectory of certain cryptocurrencies.

A monthly survey report by the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, has provided insight into what really happened in October. Analysts also identified trends that started gaining momentum in November.

The rise of privacy-oriented chains

The $19 billion liquidation on October 10, which resulted in the deleveraging of excessive debt, set off a negative trend that led the crypto market to experience its first Red October in seven years. The market ended last month down 6.1% due to increased uncertainty with the US government and an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

Despite the decline in the overall crypto market capitalization, Bitcoin’s dominance increased to 59.4%, while Ethereum’s dominated slightly to 12.6%. Institutional interest in Ethereum surged, with new altcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recording significant inflows.

Moreover, privacy coins witnessed a significant increase. Transactions on the top three privacy-focused blockchains increased by more than 30%. Zcash led the trend with a 160% increase in the number of daily transactions. Ethereum is also working on integrating privacy features to balance confidentiality with regulatory compliance.

“Advances in zero-knowledge technology and adoption by decentralized apps highlight the growing market interest and positive momentum for privacy-focused solutions in the crypto ecosystem,” Binance Research explains.

Will November end on a positive note?

In addition to privacy blockchains, the industry also witnessed increasing interest in x402, an open payment protocol that reactivates the HTTP 402 code. Daily transactions using this standard exceeded 720,000. Analysts found that one-click HTTP coins initially fueled the protocol’s growth; However, integrations by Google and Cloudflare strengthened the momentum.

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Binance Research believes that the two narratives currently defining the ecosystem include the speculative and the structural. Memecoin-led mints fuel the former, while the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) agents for autonomous payments fuels the latter.

As November progresses, an AI model trading competition is gaining momentum. This competition analyzed various trading behaviors, showing that success depends more on disciplined risk management than on the accuracy of predictions. Analysts believe the test serves as an example for AI-driven trading projects.

Meanwhile, easing trade tensions between the US and China, coupled with the expected end of the Federal Reserve’s quantitative tightening within a few weeks, could provide positive market catalysts by December. It remains to be seen whether November will end on a positive or negative note.