Bitcoin News Today: Projects Adapt, Regulators Act to Stabilize Crypto Market

Bitcoin's recent sharp decline has sparked debate over whether the move reflects a deeper structural crisis in the crypto market or a temporary sentiment-driven correction. On-chain data and industry responses suggest the latter: the drop is a flush of speculative excess rather than a systemic breakdown.

The October 2025 sell-off was marked by critical on-chain metrics signaling weak buyer interest. Bitcoin's On-Balance Volume (OBV) hit its lowest level since April 2025, indicating minimal spot buying despite a short-term price rebound, according to a Yahoo Finance report. The Short-Term Holder Realized Price also dipped below $114,000, triggering margin calls among leveraged traders. Over 97% of the top 100 altcoins plummeted alongside Bitcoin, with Layer-2 tokens like Arbitrum and Optimism losing up to 70% of their value, the Yahoo Finance piece added. Funding rates had spiked dangerously before the crash, exacerbating the deleveraging event.

Security vulnerabilities further amplified the crisis. October 2025 saw a surge in DeFi exploits, including a $1.8 million theft from the Abracadabra protocol via a smart contract flaw; North Korea's Lazarus Group also weaponized AI to accelerate phishing attacks, siphoning $100 million through fake Coinbase calls. CertiK's Q2 report highlighted $2.47 billion in losses from 344 incidents, with 80% of infrastructure exploits averaging $30 million each — details documented in the earlier Yahoo Finance report.

Despite the chaos, some projects demonstrated resilience. The Berachain (BERA) Foundation recovered all $12.8 million stolen in a BEX/Balancer v2 attack, though withdrawals remain paused for security audits, according to a Bitcoinsistemi report. Meanwhile, ZKsync's founder Alex Gluchowski announced a new tokenomics model to transform the ZK token into an asset with real economic utility, integrating cross-chain fees and enterprise licensing revenue, as covered in a Bitcoinsistemi article.

Regulators also moved amid the turmoil. U.S. President Trump pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who had been jailed since 2023, signaling a potential thaw in crypto policy, the Yahoo Finance report noted. However, Canada imposed a record $126 million fine on a crypto dealer for AML failures, underscoring ongoing regulatory scrutiny.

To stabilize altcoin markets, Bitget launched a $2 million interest-free loan program for market makers, offering 5x leverage to boost liquidity, in Bitget's $2M loan program. The initiative aims to counter the Altcoin Season Index's 27/100 reading, which indicates weak performance for smaller tokens.

The broader market remains in fear mode, with the CMC Crypto Fear and Greed Index at 27 and $312 million in token unlocks adding pressure, the Bitget announcement added. Yet, the sector's ability to recover stolen funds and adapt tokenomics models suggests the market is far from collapsing.