XRP Stalls Under $2.3 While Revolutionary New Crypto Hits 90% Sell-Out in Phase 6 Frenzy

Digital assets face divergent paths as established tokens struggle while newcomers capture investor enthusiasm.

XRP's Price Plateau

The veteran cryptocurrency continues trading below the $2.3 resistance level that's proven stubborn for weeks. Market analysts point to regulatory uncertainty and institutional hesitation as key factors keeping the digital asset range-bound.

Newcomer's Meteoric Rise

Meanwhile, an emerging crypto project accelerates through its sixth funding phase with 90% of tokens already snapped up by eager investors. The rapid sell-out suggests growing appetite for innovative blockchain solutions beyond the established players.

Market Dynamics Shift

Traders appear increasingly willing to bypass stagnant majors for promising newcomers—because nothing says 'sound investment strategy' like chasing the next shiny token while traditional finance veterans shake their heads. The pattern repeats: established coins consolidate, fresh projects explode, and the cycle continues unabated.

Borrowers abandon uncollateralized lending and shift to full-collateral models

Data from Galaxy Research also showed that DeFi lending alone increased by 55% to an all-time high of $41 billion. According to the analytics firm, the surge was supported by points-driven user incentives and improved collateral types such as PENDLE Principal Tokens.

Centralized lending also grew by 37% to $24.4 billion. However, the centralized lending market remains a third smaller than its 2022 peak.

The researchers noted that borrowers from the last cycle have largely abandoned uncollateralized lending and shifted toward full-collateral models. Galaxy Research believes lenders are moving towards collateralized models as they seek institutional capital or public listings.

On-chan data revealed that Tether remains the dominant CeFi lender, holding nearly 60% of tracked loans. The USDT issuer also recorded its best quarter ever in terms of absolute loan book growth, expanding its book by almost $630 million.

DeFi also saw a decisive shift in the third quarter, with lending apps now capturing more than 80% of the on-chain market. CDP-backed stablecoins shrank to 16% during the same period. 

“This is a notable shift away from synthetic, crypto-backed stablecoins towards the lending out of centralized stablecoins like USDT and USDC.”

–Zack Pokorny, Research Associate at Galaxy Research.

Galaxy Research noted that new chain deployments, including AAVE and Fluid on Plasma, helped fuel the activity. The firm found that Plasma attracted more than $3 billion in borrowings within five weeks of launch.

On-chain data also showed that a leverage-induced wipeout occurred shortly after the end of Q3, resulting in the liquidation of more than $19 billion worth of perp positions. The October 10 wipeout was the largest single-day drop in crypto futures history. 

Hyperliquid recorded the most liquidations, totaling $10.08 billion over the 24 hours. Bybit and Binance also reported $4.58 billion and $2.31 billion, respectively.

However, Galaxy’s report still claims the liquidation event showed no signs of broader credit deterioration. The firm argued that most positions were mechanically de-risked as exchanges’ auto-deleveraging systems kicked in.

Corporate DAT strategies continue to rely on leverage

The report also revealed that corporate digital-asset treasury (DAT) strategies continue to rely on leverage. Galaxy Research said it’s tracking more than $12 billion in outstanding debt tied to crypto-acquiring firms. 

On-chain data showed that total industry debt, including DAT issuance, hit a record $86.3 billion. Galaxy’s report revealed that the debt outstanding has remained stagnant through most of the year, with just $422 million added in the previous quarter.

Galaxy also noted a 41.46% QoQ surge in futures Open Interest (OI), including perpetual futures, from $132.75 billion to $187.79 billion on September 30. Futures OI reached an all-time high of $220.37 billion on October 6. The drop in perps on October 10 also saw OI plummet 30% overnight from $207.62 billion the previous day to $146.06 billion by the end of the wipeout day.

Galaxy Research stated that it tracked $24.37 billion of open CeFi borrows as of September 30. The firm also noted that CeFi borrowing has surged by $6.6 billion, or 37.11%, quarter-over-quarter, and $17.19 billion (+239.4%) since the bear market of $7.18 billion in Q4 2023.

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