Altcoins today: Perpetual tokens shed over $1.3B as ASTER, AVNT, and APEX tumble

  • Perp DEX tokens lost more than $1.3 billion in market value over the past day.
  • ASTER, AVANTIS, and APEX drop up to 35%.
  • Analysts anticipate significant rallies in October.

Cryptocurrencies displayed weakness on Tuesday, with most currencies losing momentum after yesterday’s momentary jumps.

The global cryptocurrency market capitalization plunged 1% in the past 24 hours to $3.89 trillion.

Meanwhile, perpetual tokens underperformed the broader market.

CoinGecko data shows Perp coins dropped 6.2% (or $1.35 billion) of their valuation within the last 24 hours to $21.47 billion at press time.

The daily trading volume has jumped to $5.79 billion, signaling robust trading activity, potentially from market players quitting to avoid further losses.

This article explores the trending projects in the perp space, including Aster, Avantis, and APEX. The trio has seen traction in the past few sessions as market interest shifts to the decentralized derivatives sector.

ASTER down 10%

Decentralized exchange Aster has gained attention with its latest performance, which saw it even outshining established projects like Circle in activity.

Its native token soared to all-time highs of above $2.40 on September 24, displaying unmatched momentum in a month often plagued by bearish actions.

Meanwhile, ASTER has plummeted by 10% in the past 24 hours to $1.72.

Profit-taking after the latest rallies and broader market dips fuel ASTER’s downward trend on the daily chart.

Meanwhile, whale accumulations from top investors like Mr Beast signals trust in Aster’s disruptive potential.

AVNT extends weekly losses

Avantis extended its weakness as perpetual tokens crashed.

It is trading at $1.17 after losing 4% and more than 45% in the past seven days.

Avantis has visibly lost the initial momentum that propelled its prices to record highs this month.

While the project positions itself as a rival in derivatives trading, intense competition, liquidity crunches, and whale outflows have dented its momentum.

Though today’s dip appears less severe than the peers, a broader outlook confirms a struggling DEX.

Nonetheless, some experts trust that serious teams focus on building and not short-term price movements.

If that’s the case for Avantis, we might expect substantial recoveries amid possible “Uptober” rallies.

APEX takes a massive hit

APEX suffered the most, shedding over 35% in the past day to hover at $1.37.

The brutal dip comes after the altcoin gained over 350% in the past week to the $2.70 peak.

Meanwhile, today’s performance has left investors uncertain about Apex Protocol’s survival in the perp DEX trading game.

Broder market outlook

Cryptocurrencies underperformed today, in what proponents call the final reset before October rallies.

Bitcoin displays bearish sentiments at $113,500, with top alts ETH, XRP, BNB, and SOL down by up to 5% on their daily price charts.

Analyst Michael van de Poppe believes the current dips are an opportunity to enter lower before fresh all-time highs in the coming month.

With experts predicting that perpetual decentralized exchange will shape the coming bull cycle, crypto enthusiasts will watch perp tokens in the coming weeks and months.

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Chainlink and Swift allow banks to access blockchain through existing systems

  • Chainlink and Swift enable tokenized fund workflows via existing banking systems.
  • UBS pilots new Chainlink-Swift system, avoiding costly infrastructure upgrades.
  • Global institutions can connect with crypto using their tested rails.

Chainlink and Swift have deepened their collaboration with a new system designed to help financial institutions manage tokenized fund processes using existing infrastructure.

The initiative integrates Swift’s global messaging network with the Chainlink Runtime Environment (CRE), enabling subscription and redemption workflows for tokenized assets without requiring firms to overhaul their legacy systems.

The first pilot involved UBS Tokenize, the tokenization unit of Swiss bank UBS, and builds on earlier work with the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Project Guardian initiative.

The collaboration aims to demonstrate how blockchain technology can be applied to streamline traditional financial processes, opening the door for broader adoption of tokenized assets.

Plug-and-play infrastructure for tokenization

The new solution leverages Swift’s ISO 20022-compliant messaging standards alongside Chainlink’s CRE and its Digital Transfer Agent (DTA) technical standard.

Institutions can trigger smart contract events directly through Swift messages, reducing the need for entirely new identity or key management solutions.

Commenting on the milestone, Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov said:

I’m very excited about this landmark innovation we’ve achieved by leveraging Swift’s standards and UBS’s tokenized asset design, as we are showing how the use of smart contracts and new technical standards can enable transfer agents and other entities to manage tokenized asset workflows on-chain.

Markets have responded with optimism as they watch a potential financial revolution unfolding in real-time.

The UBS trial has confirmed that institutions like banks can integrate cryptocurrencies into their existing operations without the need for painful learning curves, new platform launches, or major changes.

Nonetheless, today’s developments come after months of work.

In 2024, UBS, Chainlink, and Swift explored how tokenized funds could operate in Singapore’s Project Guardian.

The latest experiment takes everything to a new level, demonstrating blockchain’s compatibility with already-existing systems.

Chainlink highlighted:

With Swift messages and the Chainlink Runtime Environment (CRE), banks and institutions can seamlessly access blockchains through the same Swift infrastructure they have relied upon for decades.

The broader picture

Blockchain integration into traditional finance (TradiFi) has often felt like connecting two incompatible worlds.

Chainlink and Swift’s innovative model aims to change that narrative.

Rather than asking banks to go all-in on a new technology, they can tap into cryptocurrency using familiar systems – Swift’s messaging.

It is a simple move but with profound effects.

If successful, the approach could herald a new era, with blockchain part of day-to-day undertakings in global finance.

For institutions looking to leverage blockchain’s robustness, the new system means more opportunities and reduced risks.

LINK price outlook

Chainlink’s token remained relatively calm amid the news, up 1% on its daily chart to $21.

However, the 35% uptick in 24-hour trading volume signals renewed activity.

It has consolidated in the past week and looks poised to lead October breakouts.

Popular analyst Ali highlighted $20 launchpad for LINK rebound to $47.

That would mean a roughly 124% surge from LINK’s market price.

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Ethereum price forecast: ETH holds $4,100 as altcoins brace for major move

  • Ethereum signals strength as BitMine accelerates ETH treasury strategy.
  • The ETH price bounced from lows of $3,800 last week and is holding above $4,100.
  • Bitmine’s buying leads the corporate world’s interest in Ethereum, and tailwinds such as spot exchange-traded funds approval could catalyse gains to above $5,000.

While cryptocurrency markets continue to witness price turmoil, Ethereum has held above the key level of $4,000, with ETH likely to explode as investors reignite altcoin season talk.

The latest developments in the broader crypto market, as well as increased stashing of Ether by crypto treasury companies, have analysts taking an overall bullish outlook on the ETH price.

Ethereum holds $4,100 amid fresh Bitmine buy

Ethereum dropped to lows of $3,800 on September 25, 2025, but has since climbed back above the psychological $4,000 level.

Bulls even retested the supply wall area around $4,230, and have looked to hold above the $4,100 mark as altcoins show signs of fresh recovery.

Notably, Ethereum’s gains have aligned with a significant acquisition by Bitmine Immersion Technologies, the company that’s grown into the biggest ETH treasury holder among publicly-traded companies.

On September 29, Bitmine announced its ETH holdings exceeded 2.65 million tokens, valued at over $10 billion.

This disclosure, part of a broader portfolio update, revealed that Bitmine’s total crypto and cash reserves currently stand at over $11.6 billion.

Bitmine’s aggressive ETH stashing has, in the past months, provided key price buoyancy for ETH, with bulls having faced downward pressure since the breakout to a new all-time high near $5,000 in August.

Macroeconomic headwinds have contributed to the profit-taking, but Bitmine’s substantial purchase has injected fresh upside momentum into the ecosystem.

The buy has not only helped anchor prices above the critical $4,000 support level, but has analysts pointing to a potential breakout as top altcoins eye accelerated upside momentum in the fourth quarter.

ETH price forecast as top altcoins eye ETF boost

While short-term dips remain possible if Bitcoin dominance rebounds, corporate confidence in ETH could catalyse a rebound toward $4,500.

If broader sentiment aligns with potential catalysts such as the approval of new spot exchange-traded funds by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the Ethereum price could breach $5,000 and target the psychological magnet of $10,000.

Some market experts say this is possible, with regulatory tailwinds adding to the anticipated altcoin renaissance.

This bullish take is down to the SEC’s move to formalise its generic listing standards for commodity-based trust shares.

Not only does it allow exchanges like Nasdaq, NYSE Arca, and Cboe to get approval for spot crypto ETFs without exhaustive case-by-case reviews, but it also means a flurry of spot ETFs could hit the US market sooner than anticipated.

Crypto traders already welcomed the SEC’s direction that issuers of altcoin ETFs, including those for Solana, XRP, Litecoin, Cardano, and Dogecoin, withdraw pending 19b-4 filings.

Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas summed up the outlook via a post on X:

Implications of this move are that altcoins rallying amid approval for crypto ETFs will likely have the ETH price leading the charge.

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SOL could dip below $200 after failing to hit $220; Check forecast

Key takeaways

  • SOL has dropped below $210 after starting the week bullish.
  • The coin could drop below $200 if the bullish trend fails to gain momentum.

SOL fails to surpass the $220 resistance level

SOL, the native coin of the Solana blockchain, has lost less than 1% of its value in the last 24 hours. At press time, it is trading at $208 per coin.

The negative performance comes after SOL and the broader crypto market had a positive start to the week. SOL rallied to the $215 level on Monday, recovering from the $190 support level it touched on Friday. 

However, SOL failed to build on this momentum, with the $220 resistance level knocking down the price below $210. Its performance aligned with Bitcoin and Ether, with BTC encountering key resistance above $114k. Ether also failed to top the $4,232 resistance level after surging past $4,100 on Monday.

SOL could drop below $200

The SOL/USD 4-hour chart remains bearish and efficient as SOL failed to hit $220. The technical indicators on the 4-hour timeframe remain bullish despite the strong resistance.

The RSI of 52 is above the neutral 50, indicating that SOL is still building a bullish momentum despite the choppy market conditions. The MACD lines are also above the neutral zone, suggesting a bullish bias.

XRP/USD 4H Chart

If the market recovery continues, SOL could look to surge past the $220 resistance level once again. Surpassing this key resistance level would allow SOL to rally towards the $240 zone in the near term. 

On the flipside, if the $220 resistance level holds strong, SOL could drop below the $200 mark for the first time since Sunday. The $190 support level could probably provide a bounce back for SOL. Failure to hold this support level could see SOL drop lower towards the $175 support region.

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Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs see over $1B in inflows as crypto looks set to stage comeback

  • US-listed Bitcoin and Ethereum spot exchange-traded funds drew more than $1 billion in net inflows on Monday.
  • Ethereum spot ETFs, which had seen five consecutive sessions of outflows, flipped positive with $547 million in net inflows.
  • Bitcoin ETFs also logged strong inflows, with $522 million added across the 12 products.

US-listed Bitcoin and Ethereum spot exchange-traded funds drew more than $1 billion in net inflows on Monday, reversing recent outflow trends and boosting optimism across crypto markets.

The move came as Bitcoin prices rebounded sharply above $114,000, supported by seasonal factors and renewed accumulation by large holders.

Ethereum ETFs lead the rebound

Ethereum spot ETFs, which had seen five consecutive sessions of outflows, flipped positive with $547 million in net inflows, according to SoSoValue.

Fidelity’s Ethereum Fund (FETH) led the gains, drawing $202 million in a single day, followed by BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) at $154 million.

The nine Ethereum ETF products now collectively manage $27.5 billion in assets, equivalent to about 5.4 percent of Ethereum’s circulating market cap.

The turnaround underscores renewed institutional appetite after a weak September.

Bitcoin ETFs see $518 million added

Bitcoin ETFs also logged strong inflows, with $518 million added across the ETFs.

Fidelity’s FBTC drew the largest daily inflow of $299 million, while ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) followed with $62 million.

Date IBIT FBTC BITB ARKB BTCO EZBC BRRR HODL BTCW GBTC BTC Total
22 Sep 2025 0.0 (276.7) 0.0 (52.3) 0.0 0.0 0.0 (9.5) 0.0 (24.6) 0.0 (363.1)
23 Sep 2025 2.5 (75.6) (12.8) (27.9) 10.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 (103.8)
24 Sep 2025 128.9 29.7 24.7 37.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.4 0.0 0.0 13.6 241.0
25 Sep 2025 79.7 (114.8) (80.5) (63.0) 0.0 (6.3) 0.0 (10.1) 0.0 (42.9) (15.5) (253.4)
26 Sep 2025 (37.3) (300.4) (23.8) (17.8) 0.0 0.0 0.0 (9.3) 0.0 (17.1) (12.6) (418.3)
29 Sep 2025 (46.6) 298.7 47.2 62.2 35.3 16.5 0.0 30.7 0.0 26.9 47.1 518.0

Most other funds saw net gains, though BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) posted a modest $46.6 million outflow.

Collectively, Bitcoin ETFs now hold $150 billion in assets under management, representing about 6.6 percent of the cryptocurrency’s total market cap.

Bitcoin price action

Bitcoin extended its recovery into Tuesday, climbing as high as $114,776 in the past 24 hours before easing slightly below $114,000.

The rebound follows a sharp drop below $109,000 last week amid heavy liquidations and quarterly options expiry, which amplified selling pressure.

Market participants pointed to “Uptober” seasonality—October’s historical trend of 20 percent average gains—as a factor lifting sentiment.

On-chain data showing fresh accumulation by so-called whales also supported the move.

Despite renewed momentum in crypto, broader sentiment remained cautious as investors monitored political developments in Washington.

US lawmakers face a Tuesday midnight deadline to strike a funding deal and avert a government shutdown.

Without an agreement, the closure would begin on Wednesday, coinciding with new US tariffs on heavy trucks, pharmaceuticals, and other goods.

Analysts at Bank of America warned that a prolonged shutdown could complicate Federal Reserve policy-making ahead of its October 29 meeting by delaying critical economic data releases, including the September payrolls report.

“If the shutdown lasts beyond the Fed meeting, the Fed will rely on private data for its policy decisions. On the margin, we think this may lower the likelihood of an October cut, but only marginally,” the bank noted.

 

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