TLDR:
- Binance report shows October market drop of 6.1% but quick recovery in leverage.
- x402 network hits 720K daily transactions driven by AI-powered payments.
- Zcash daily transactions surge 160%, leading privacy coin growth.
- AI trading study finds discipline, not prediction, drives long-term profitability.
The crypto market held firm in October despite a sharp correction and $19 billion in liquidations. Binance’s latest research shows a 6.1% drop, marking the first red October since 2018, yet investor sentiment stayed steady.
Leverage rebounded by over 10% by month-end, and builders continued developing through the downturn. Bitcoin’s dominance rose above 59%, while new altcoin ETFs drew inflows despite broader volatility.
Market Holds Firm Through Volatility
According to Binance Research, the October correction coincided with a U.S. government shutdown and a 25-basis-point Federal Reserve rate cut.
Despite these conditions, market confidence remained largely intact as Bitcoin volatility briefly spiked to 16% before stabilizing. The implied volatility indicator stayed below its March peak, signaling calm among professional investors.
Leverage across major exchanges climbed back to 5.77% by October 31, reflecting renewed trading activity after the mid-month sell-off. Institutional interest in Ethereum persisted, and inflows into new products such as Bitwise’s Solana Staking ETF supported broader optimism.
The report added that easing U.S.-China trade tensions and an end to quantitative tightening in December could serve as potential tailwinds.
Analyst Lark Davis noted that the market’s ability to rebound from a “historic $19B shakeout” underscores ongoing conviction among participants. Builders continued building, with development activity maintaining its pace through the turbulence.
AI Payments and Privacy Coins Lead Growth
The research highlighted strong momentum for x402, an open payment protocol reviving the HTTP 402 code. Daily transactions on the network exceeded 720,000 in October, initially driven by memecoins before expanding into AI-based payment integrations.
Google and Cloudflare’s adoption accelerated usage as AI agents began utilizing x402 for autonomous payments across compute, data, and API services.
Two narratives now define the protocol’s growth: speculative adoption through memecoin mints and structural progress in AI-driven transactions. Market sentiment remains optimistic as the ecosystem transitions toward sustainable use cases.
Binance’s data suggested that long-term success depends on broader adoption beyond speculative trading.
Privacy-focused networks also recorded impressive momentum. Top privacy coins saw activity surge over 30% in October, led by Zcash, which posted a 160% jump in daily transactions and reached a new all-time high in market capitalization.
The report added that zero-knowledge technology continues to mature, with Ethereum integrating privacy layers to balance confidentiality with compliance requirements.
Additionally, Binance highlighted an AI trading competition that revealed the risks of overleveraging in algorithmic strategies. The findings pointed to discipline and risk management, not prediction accuracy, as the key to performance consistency in volatile crypto markets.
The post Binance Research Report Shows Crypto Resilience as Privacy and AI Tokens Surge appeared first on Blockonomi.