Binance bought $100 million of Circle shares as the companies signed a five-year deal that pays the crypto exchange to promote the USDC stablecoin on its platform.

Circle issued Binance 1.24 million Class A shares at $80.84 each in a private placement that closed Sept. 17, according to an SEC filing published Tuesday. The price reflected a discount to Circle’s market value before the sale, the company said.

Binance cannot sell, transfer or hedge the shares for as long as two years, subject to certain exceptions, but retains the right to vote them.

The equity purchase closed alongside an expansion of the companies’ existing USDC partnership. Circle agreed to pay Binance a monthly incentive fee calculated as a percentage of the USDC held through Circle’s Modular Smart Contract Wallet service, while Binance will carry out promotional activities for the stablecoin.

The cryptocurrency market cap briefly climbed back above $3 trillion earlier on Tuesday as Bitcoin and the biggest altcoins extended a broad rally, while increasing leverage pointed to growing speculative activity. 

Bitcoin (BTC) traded around $86,000, up about 4.5% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. Ether (ETH) gained about 2.3% to $2,745, while XRP rose 5.7% to $1.53 and Solana (SOL) advanced 3.6% to $117. BNB gained 1.6%, while Dogecoin (DOGE) was among the stronger large-cap performers, rising about 11%.

The total crypto market cap stood just below $3 trillion at the time of writing, up about 4.3% over the previous day. 

Bloomberg reported that open interest in perpetual futures across crypto had climbed to nearly $160 billion, its highest level since late October 2025. More than $920 million in bearish positions were liquidated on Monday as prices surged, according to the report, raising the prospect that leverage could amplify moves in either direction.

US spot Bitcoin ETFs also drew nearly $1 billion on Monday, their largest single-day inflow since October 2025.

Further down the market-cap rankings, Akedo’s AKE token has emerged as one of the week’s biggest movers. Ranked 208th out of all 8,161 active cryptocurrencies listed on CoinMarketCap, AKE has gained about 170% over the past seven days, lifting its market cap to roughly $1.2 billion, at the time of writing.

The AI gaming and content token reached an all-time high of $0.1467 on Sunday before plunging more than 60% from its peak. Traders have exchanged $108.9 million worth of AKE in the past 24 hours.

Related: Bitcoin cycle bottom may already be in at $58K, says analyst James Check

This article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and is intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice or recommendations. All investments and trades carry risk; readers are encouraged to conduct independent research.

Bitcoin pushed to around $86,000 this week, lifting broader crypto sentiment and helping the total market value reclaim the $3 trillion mark. Alongside the move, several cross-asset signals have shifted—most notably a Glassnode metric that now points toward stronger altcoin performance.

At the same time, spot ETF flows in the US have surged back to levels not seen since October 2025, with record daily inflows reported for both Bitcoin and Ether products. Together, the data suggests the current rally isn’t confined to the largest asset classes, though market structure still matters as investors weigh whether this is a sustained rotation or a short-lived burst.

Key takeaways

• Glassnode’s Altcoin Cycle Signal rose to 81.25 (0–100 scale) as the “altcoin season” read improved in the wake of the latest market upswing.
• Altcoin market cap reached $1.19 trillion on Tuesday, the highest level since late January, with altcoins up 33% since Aug. 19.
• Bitcoin dominance has stayed rangebound near 59%–60% and has not broken above 60% in the past month.
• US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $999 million in inflows on Monday, while Ether ETFs pulled in $270 million—both the highest daily totals since October 2025, per Farside Investors.

Glassnode’s “altcoin season” signal turns bullish

Glassnode’s on-chain analytics has renewed attention on altcoin relative strength this week. Its Altcoin Cycle Signal—an internally developed measure that compares the combined market cap of the 250 largest cryptocurrencies (excluding stablecoins) against Bitcoin—has flipped to favor altcoins, a condition crypto traders commonly label “altseason.”

In Glassnode’s framework, an “altcoin season” signal is generated when relative market-cap growth among the group of top altcoins temporarily outpaces that of Bitcoin. While the broad logic is clear, Glassnode does not publish the exact methodology behind the calculation.

As of Monday, the seven-day rolling mean of the signal stood at 81.25 on Glassnode’s normalized 0–100 scale, indicating a stronger tilt toward altcoin outperformance than earlier in the cycle.

Glassnode attributed part of the shift to breadth in the latest rally. In a post on X, the firm highlighted that an earlier August move saw altcoins lag in terms of participation, whereas the current upswing has “ignited the full breadth of the altcoin market.”

Altcoin market cap hits the highest point since late January

The signal is reinforced by market-cap data. According to the article’s figures, the combined altcoin market cap reached $1.19 trillion on Tuesday—its highest reading since late January.

That metric has also shown meaningful acceleration since Aug. 19, when crypto markets experienced a flash upside tied to a US Treasury announcement about interventions in bond markets. Since then, altcoins’ total market capitalization has increased by 33%.

For traders and portfolio managers, this combination—an “altcoin season” read alongside a rising altcoin market cap—can matter because it can indicate that the rally is expanding beyond Bitcoin leadership. However, rotation signals still tend to be fragile until they show persistence across multiple trading sessions and market conditions.

Bitcoin dominance remains capped near 60%

While altcoins have regained momentum, Bitcoin’s share of the overall market has not broken decisively upward. The article notes that Bitcoin dominance has remained rangebound since the Aug. 19 period, currently sitting at 59.7% versus 59.2% on Aug. 19.

Crucially, dominance has failed to push through the 60% level over the last month—an area many market observers treat as a psychological and technical threshold for whether capital is rotating away from Bitcoin or consolidating in it.

Trader and commentator Matthew Hyland characterized the environment as “complacency” among Bitcoin investors, arguing that investors have been slow to accept that Bitcoin has lacked sustained progress against altcoins since dominance reached about 66% in June 2025. His comments point to a tension: even if Bitcoin remains strong in absolute terms, relative underperformance versus altcoins can still drive strategic repositioning.

ETF inflows rebound sharply for both Bitcoin and Ether

Beyond on-chain and market-cap measures, investor behavior also appears to be shifting. This week has brought a broad rebound in US spot ETF demand across both Bitcoin and Ether products, suggesting renewed risk appetite—or, at minimum, renewed willingness to allocate through regulated vehicles.

On Monday, the combined inflows into US spot Bitcoin ETFs totaled $999 million. Ether ETFs, meanwhile, recorded $270 million in inflows. In both cases, the daily totals were described as the highest since October 2025, based on data from Farside Investors.

Cointelegraph previously reported that Bitcoin ETF investors’ aggregate cost basis sat just below $86,000 at the end of last week. With BTC/USD attempting to establish that level as support, the renewed ETF buying becomes particularly relevant: cost basis can influence how investors react to pullbacks, and steady inflows can help sustain demand during volatility.

For market participants, the ETF angle is also notable because it links the current move to a broader pool of investors who may prefer ETF access over spot exchanges. When ETF flows rise in tandem with improvements in altcoin-relative signals, it can indicate a more synchronized shift in sentiment across the market.

Going forward, investors will likely watch whether the altcoin “season” signal holds above its recent threshold and whether Bitcoin dominance can either break higher above 60% or continue to stay capped—both scenarios could shape how long this rotation lasts. On the ETF front, the key question is whether inflows remain strong beyond a single day, since sustained demand is more likely to translate into durable price leadership across the broader market.

Iran could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the U.S. eases military pressure and lifts its port blockade, according to multiple reports citing a senior Iranian official.

Oil prices subsequently fell with WTI crude more than 2.5% lower at $89 a barrel, roughly 15% below its September high. Brent crude dropped below $98 a barrel.

A sustained de-escalation in the Middle East could provide a tailwind for risk assets, with lower energy prices easing inflationary pressures and concerns over further interest rate hikes.

Bitcoin is consolidating around $86,000 following Monday’s sharp rally, which took it to an intraday high of $87,300. Gold is little changed over the past 24 hours at approximately $4,336 an ounce.

The privacy coin sector has expanded nearly fivefold over the past year to roughly $30 billion, according to a Sept. 22 research note from 21Shares, as Zcash has led gains and financial institutions continue testing confidential blockchain infrastructure.

21Shares said the sector had risen from $6.2 billion a year earlier and was trading 216% above its October 2025 peak based on the firm’s dataset. The asset manager placed Zcash at around $20 billion in market capitalization when it prepared the research and described privacy as an increasingly important requirement for institutional blockchain use.

“Privacy is not a feature digital assets can bolt on later,” 21Shares research strategist Matt Mena wrote, arguing that public transaction histories can expose corporate balances, counterparties and trading strategies.

Independent market data taken later on Sept. 22 showed the rally had moved further. CoinGecko showed the privacy-coin category at roughly $36.9 billion, led by Zcash at close to $25 billion and Monero at approximately $11.2 billion.

The totals are not directly interchangeable because 21Shares and CoinGecko use their own category definitions and market snapshots. CoinGecko separately values its full privacy category, which includes privacy infrastructure and other privacy-related networks, at more than $60 billion.

Privacy coins gain as Zcash approaches $25 billion

Zcash has accounted for most of the recent rise among dedicated privacy coins. CoinGecko’s Sept. 22 reading put ZEC near $1,473, with a market capitalization close to $25 billion. The token had gained roughly 22% over seven days and 75% during the previous 30 days at that snapshot.

Those figures have moved well beyond the approximately $20 billion valuation used in the 21Shares report. The firm’s research compared the current market value with Zcash’s roughly $4 billion peak during 2021 and said the network had risen around 400% above that earlier level.

The price advance has come alongside a rise in coins held inside Zcash’s shielded pools. ZecStats reported that 4.91 million ZEC, or 29% of issued supply, was shielded as of 05:34 UTC on Sept. 22. At the prevailing market price, those coins were worth approximately $7.19 billion.

The 29% reading measures the share of issued ZEC held in shielded pools, not the share of transactions using privacy. ZecStats counts Sprout, Sapling, Orchard and the newer Ironwood pool, which activated on July 28 after developers replaced the affected Orchard design.

Zcash activated Ironwood through the NU6.3 upgrade after developers discovered a soundness vulnerability in Orchard earlier this year. Project Tachyon later published machine-checked proofs covering Ironwood’s balance integrity before activation.

Zcash introduced Ironwood after the Orchard vulnerability raised supply-integrity concerns, while users subsequently migrated much of the shielded balance into the replacement pool.

Zcash ETF adds a regulated U.S. access route

U.S. investment access changed during the same period. Grayscale’s Zcash ETF began trading on NYSE Arca under the ZCSH ticker on Aug. 25, becoming the first exchange-traded product offering spot exposure to ZEC.

Grayscale said ZCSH was created through the conversion of its existing Zcash Trust. The product gives brokerage-account holders price exposure to ZEC without requiring them to manage private keys.

Grayscale launched the first Zcash ETF with direct ZEC exposure after the registration became effective in August.

An SEC filing later showed more than $70 million of cumulative inflows during ZCSH’s first two weeks, separate from a $100 million investment by a Digital Currency Group affiliate. Grayscale warned in its filings that ZEC remains highly volatile and investors can lose their entire investment.

Another regulatory event preceded the fund’s launch. Grayscale’s filings state that the SEC terminated its investigation or enforcement action involving the Zcash Foundation in January 2026. The filing does not establish that ending the investigation caused or guaranteed the later approval of ZCSH.

Ethereum and Solana put privacy on development roadmaps

21Shares argues that demand for confidentiality is extending beyond tokens built specifically around privacy. Ethereum and Solana are developing systems intended to make selected transaction or application data less exposed while preserving verification.

Ethereum’s official roadmap describes three main privacy tracks: private reads, private writes and private proving. Private reads focus on stopping wallets and infrastructure providers from leaking query information, while private writes cover transaction activity and metadata. Private proving uses cryptography to demonstrate facts without revealing the underlying data.

The Ethereum Foundation has created an Institutional Privacy Task Force alongside its Privacy and Scaling Explorations research group. Its institutional portal describes work on zero-knowledge proofs, fully homomorphic encryption, trusted execution environments and privacy-focused Layer 2 networks for regulated financial applications.

Not every proposed privacy change is guaranteed to reach Ethereum’s mainnet. The Foundation’s roadmap says timelines can change during technical review and the network’s consensus process.

Ethereum has placed privacy among the priorities for its Hegotá development cycle, with Frame Transactions and other proposals being assessed alongside censorship-resistance and post-quantum work.

Solana already provides Confidential Balances through its Token-2022 framework. Solana’s documentation states that the feature can encrypt balances and transfer amounts while leaving token accounts, account owners and participation publicly visible.

Issuers may configure an optional auditor key that decrypts confidential transfer amounts. Solana says the auditor key does not reveal the full account balance and cannot authorize transfers.

Canton uses controlled disclosure for institutional transactions

Institutional privacy is taking a different form on Canton Network, which was built around controlled information sharing between participants.

Digital Asset told the SEC in an Aug. 17 comment letter that Canton had more than 1,000 participants and supported more than $8 trillion in tokenized securities activity each month. The company named Broadridge, Goldman Sachs, HSBC and Société Générale among institutions using the network.

The $8 trillion figure describes monthly financial activity reported by Digital Asset and should not be interpreted as $8 trillion of assets permanently held on a public blockchain.

DTCC has moved part of its tokenization work into production testing on Canton. On July 15, the market infrastructure company reported successful production transactions involving tokenized DTC-held securities across Canton and DTCC’s private Besu network.

More than 30 firms participated in workflows covering U.S. Treasury repo transactions, securities lending, collateral pledges, equities and delivery-versus-payment trades. DTCC plans to launch its Tokenization Service in October 2026.

Canton has attracted banks developing tokenized deposits and institutional settlement systems, including projects involving JPMorgan and other large financial institutions.

Privacy growth still faces regulatory limits

21Shares used crime data to challenge the view that privacy assets account for most illicit cryptocurrency use. Chainalysis estimated that illicit addresses received at least $154 billion in cryptocurrency during 2025, while attributed illicit transactions remained below 1% of overall crypto transaction volume.

Stablecoins represented 84% of identified illicit crypto volume in the firm’s 2026 report. Chainalysis said this partly follows their extensive legitimate use, high liquidity, low volatility and cross-border transfer capabilities. The data does not measure whether a specific privacy coin is free from criminal use.

Regulatory treatment still varies by jurisdiction. The European Union’s Anti-Money Laundering Regulation prohibits crypto-asset service providers from maintaining anonymous crypto accounts or accounts that allow increased transaction obfuscation through anonymity-enhancing coins.

The provision applies from July 10, 2027, when the EU’s new anti-money laundering regulation takes effect for covered financial and crypto service providers.

Since then, the company has sought to emphasize its cooperation with law enforcement and regulators. The company said in a blog post in February that more than 1,500 people, or about 25% of its global headcount, worked on compliance.

In March, Binance filed a defamation lawsuit against Dow Jones, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal, after the newspaper published a report claiming the U.S. Justice Department was investigating whether Iran used the platform to move funds in violation of American sanctions.

Richard Teng, Binance co-CEO, accused the Wall Street Journal of “inaccurate reporting about our compliance program” at the time.

In April, the New York Times reported that Binance made it more difficult for law enforcement officials in several countries to obtain user information, making it harder to find scammers and combat money laundering.

Binance has continuously affirmed it has never permitted transactions with people who were under sanctions and has pledged to continue cooperation with authorities.

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, initiated a probe in February into alleged sanctions violations at Binance to the tune of $1.7 billion. Binance responded to the allegations, saying it found no evidence to support the accusations.

South Korea’s Financial Services Commission has set November for a National Assembly subcommittee review of the Digital Asset Framework Act, rejecting claims that work on the country’s second stage crypto legislation has been delayed.

According to Seo Na yoon, head of the FSC’s virtual asset division, the regulator and lawmakers are moving in the same direction on legislation covering digital asset issuance and distribution, including stablecoins. Speaking at a National Assembly seminar in Seoul on Sept. 22, Seo said differences remain over when the government will submit its draft, but the November review remains part of the planned timetable.

“The FSC is not dragging its feet at all. We share the same view,” Seo said, responding to criticism over the pace of the legislation. “The direction has already been set, and while detailed discussions may be necessary in the process, there is certainly no intention on the FSC’s part to delay.”

Seo said the regulator wants the legislation passed quickly and expects discussions to proceed using bills that lawmakers have already introduced alongside the government’s proposal.

Digital Asset Framework Act is headed for November review

Ten digital asset and stablecoin bills are currently pending in the National Assembly, giving lawmakers existing proposals to work from before the government completes its version.

Seo said both sets of proposals cover issuance and distribution across the digital asset market, with the FSC working through detailed provisions along the same general direction as lawmakers.

The November timetable follows earlier pressure on the regulator to accelerate the process. In August, crypto.news previously reported that FSC Chairman Kim Byoung hwan said the government would accelerate legislative consultations as lawmakers sought to complete the framework during the fall.

During a National Assembly Political Affairs Committee meeting at the time, Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Kang il questioned when the government planned to submit its own bill. The proposed framework was expected to cover stablecoin issuance, virtual asset service providers and other areas of the digital asset market.

Seo said on Sept. 22 that personnel changes within the FSC would not alter the legislative timetable.

“A change in the responsible official cannot cause a delay in the schedule,” she said. “We will make every effort to ensure discussions proceed according to the planned timeline.”

The FSC had previously told the National Assembly that it planned to work with the ruling Democratic Party on a consolidated digital asset bill incorporating work around the 10 proposals already before lawmakers.

Rep. Min Byung duk introduced one of the proposals in June 2025. Democratic Party lawmakers Ahn Do geol, Kim Hyun jung, Lee Kang il and Park Sang hyuk have since submitted their own proposals, while People Power Party lawmakers Kim Eun hye, Kim Jae seop, Choi Bo yoon, Lee Sung kwon and Kim Sung won have introduced separate bills.

Min recently told reporters that a public hearing on the Digital Asset Framework Act was expected at the end of September.

Stablecoin rules remain central to the legislation

South Korea currently regulates the sector through the Virtual Asset User Protection Act, its first stage crypto legislation focused primarily on user protection and unfair trading practices. The second stage framework is expected to address areas including issuance, disclosures and stablecoin regulation.

Stablecoin issuer eligibility has remained one of the issues under discussion. The Bank of Korea has supported a bank led structure for won denominated stablecoins, citing possible effects on monetary policy, payments and financial stability.

In July, the central bank reaffirmed its bank led model as policymakers continued negotiations over the second stage legislation. The BOK said banks should initially take a leading role in issuing won backed stablecoins through consortiums.

South Korea’s government has meanwhile placed digital asset legislation within its policy plans for the second half of 2026. A roadmap announced in July included stablecoin legislation and crypto ETFs, alongside tokenized government bonds and a legal framework for cross border stablecoin transactions.

The FSC said in its presidential business briefing this year that it planned to complete second stage legislation related to stablecoins within 2026.

US stablecoin rules add pressure to South Korea’s timetable

U.S. regulation featured prominently during the Sept. 22 seminar, where Min said developments surrounding the CLARITY Act and the GENIUS Act had given South Korea a window to complete its own legislation.

The Senate recently failed to advance the CLARITY Act after a 50 to 49 cloture vote fell short of the 60 votes needed to begin debate. The proposal deals with digital asset market structure, while the GENIUS Act established a federal framework for payment stablecoins.

Min focused on the GENIUS Act’s Jan. 18, 2027 effective date, saying a large number of stablecoin projects were being prepared in the U.S.

“When I went to the U.S. to check, there are 200 [stablecoins] being prepared in the market right now,” Min said. “If even a few dozen are approved after the law takes effect on Jan. 18, those few dozen will pour into [our market].”

Min argued that South Korea would need its legislation in place if domestic companies and consumers were expected to wait for locally regulated products.

U.S. regulators have faced their own implementation delays. The GENIUS Act was signed into law on July 18, 2025 and gave federal agencies one year to complete implementing rules. That deadline passed in July 2026 without agencies finalizing all required regulations, while the law’s Jan. 18, 2027 effective date remained unchanged.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is expected to finalize its stablecoin rule later in 2026, while other federal agencies continue work on requirements covering reserves, redemptions, capital, liquidity and compliance.

At the Seoul seminar, MRI CEO Kim Jong seung presented on changes in U.S. crypto fundraising policy and their market effects. Han Seo hee, an attorney at Bae, Kim & Lee LLC, discussed fundraising conditions for South Korean digital asset companies and the legislative agenda.

A subsequent panel on domestic crypto fundraising included Sogang University Business School professor Jung Yoo shin, EQBR Holdings Chairman Lee Jung keun, Avalanche Vice President of Global Business Development Kim Yong il and Parameta CEO Kim Jong hyup.

The seminar was hosted by Democratic Party lawmakers Min Byung duk, Park Min kyu and Lee Kang il and organized by digital asset research institution MRI. Min serves as senior vice chair of the Democratic Party’s policy committee.

Solana-based DeFi executive Ben Nadareski says the crypto market’s era of extreme boom-and-bust cycles may be fading as liquidity deepens across trading venues—even in downturns. Speaking on Cointelegraph’s Chain Reaction, the CEO of Solstice argued that broader participation and more robust market infrastructure reduce the conditions that historically amplified sharp price moves.

Nadareski also framed crypto increasingly as a destination for institutional capital and mainstream wealth, rather than purely speculative trading. While he cautioned against reliving past turbulence, he pointed to data suggesting volatility is already declining in major markets like Bitcoin as volumes and market depth rise.

Key takeaways

• Nadareski links lower volatility to deeper liquidity across major trading pairs, noting it has improved even during bear markets.
• Glassnode and Fasanara Digital report that Bitcoin’s one-year realized volatility dropped sharply over 2025, attributing part of the move to growing market depth and institutional participation.
• Bitcoin spot volumes expanded to a higher daily range compared with the prior cycle, consistent with a more liquid market structure.
• Nadareski expects stablecoins on Solana to grow from roughly $16 billion in current market capitalization to potentially near $100 billion within five years.
• Stablecoins are increasingly central to trading, with CEX.IO data cited as showing they made up 75% of total trading volume in Q1 2026.

Why deeper liquidity could dampen the old cycle

Nadareski’s core argument is structural: when liquidity is thicker, markets tend to absorb buying and selling pressure with less violent repricing. On Cointelegraph’s Chain Reaction, he said liquidity across major crypto trading pairs has increased significantly, including during bear markets, which he argued lessens the likelihood of the sharp swings that characterized earlier cycles.

His comments emphasize an investor-relevant shift. When volatility is driven by thin order books and crowded positioning, price moves can accelerate as liquidations and forced selling cascade. In contrast, deeper markets can reduce the severity of those feedback loops by improving execution and limiting sudden liquidity gaps.

“We don’t want to go through 2017. We don’t want to go through 2021. We don’t want to go through these massive fluctuations,” Nadareski said, framing the goal as a market that is still volatile at times, but less prone to extreme destabilizing moves.

Bitcoin data aligns with a lower-volatility narrative

Nadareski’s thesis is reinforced by market data cited from blockchain analytics firm Glassnode and asset manager Fasanara Digital. In a December 2025 report, the firms found Bitcoin’s one-year realized volatility fell from 84.4% to 43%. They attributed part of this decline to “growing market depth and institutional participation.”

The report also highlighted activity that typically accompanies deeper liquidity. It said daily Bitcoin spot volumes increased to between $8 billion and $22 billion per day from $4 billion to $13 billion during the previous market cycle, according to Glassnode’s research summary.

Separately, earlier coverage from Cointelegraph noted SkyBridge Capital managing partner Anthony Scaramucci arguing in March that Bitcoin’s four-year cycle has been “muted” by institutional investors and spot Bitcoin ETF inflows—though he suggested the traditional cycle dynamics had not fully disappeared. Taken together, the picture is not that volatility is gone, but that its drivers appear to be changing as participation and trading mechanics evolve.

Stablecoin growth on Solana: potential path to $100B

Nadareski also turned to stablecoins, predicting rapid expansion of Solana’s stablecoin market. He said the value of stablecoins on Solana could rise above $50 billion and approach $100 billion over the next five years, citing what he described as increasing adoption among fintech companies as well as Solana’s transaction speed and low fees.

To anchor the forecast, the article cited DefiLlama data placing Solana’s stablecoin market capitalization at about $16 billion. The gap between current levels and a possible $100 billion outcome reflects both a broader stablecoin adoption thesis and a network-specific bet on Solana’s ability to attract payments and on-chain settlement use cases.

For traders and liquidity providers, the practical implication is that stablecoins are increasingly the “working capital” of crypto markets. Stablecoin supply and trading behavior can influence how quickly capital rotates between spot and derivatives, and how readily liquidity is available during market stress.

Stablecoins as market fuel, not just a side component

The importance of stablecoins extends beyond one chain. The article cited CEX.IO data indicating stablecoins accounted for 75% of total crypto trading volume in the first quarter of 2026—described as the highest share on record—while transaction volume surpassed $28 trillion.

This matters because a higher stablecoin share often implies that more trading volume is funded in liquid, dollar-pegged instruments. In theory, that can support smoother execution and help markets maintain liquidity across different price regimes. At the same time, stablecoin growth can also concentrate certain risks—such as reliance on issuance and reserve structures—though the underlying mechanics were not elaborated in the source material.

Within the broader market structure, the combination of deeper liquidity, institutional participation, and stablecoin-enabled trading suggests that today’s crypto market may be operating closer to the behavior of traditional capital markets than it did during the most chaotic periods of earlier retail-driven cycles.

What to watch next is whether declining realized volatility and expanding spot volume persist as market participants test new liquidity conditions across bull and bear phases. On the stablecoin front, readers should track whether growth on Solana stays consistent with Nadareski’s multi-year projections and whether stablecoin dominance in trading continues to widen rather than normalize.

• Several large exchanges removed Monero from 2024 onward, some everywhere and some for part of their users.






• Three routes remain: a swap from another coin, a direct trade with a person, and mining.
• Monero protects what is written on its chain, but timing and IP data sit outside it.

Monero (XMR) has become harder to find on large trading platforms.

Since early 2024, several big exchanges have removed it, some for all users and some for part of their user base.

For many holders, the practical question is now how to get Monero without an exchange account, and what that route asks of them.

This article looks at the routes that remain, the wallet to set up first, and the checks that matter during a swap.

For a full walkthrough, a step-by-step guide from HiddenSwap shows how to get Monero without KYC with a wallet and a single swap.

Key points

• Several large exchanges removed Monero from 2024 onward, some everywhere and some for part of their users.






• Three routes remain: a swap from another coin, a direct trade with a person, and mining.






• A wallet you control comes first, because every route pays out to an address.






• A swap turns coins you already have into XMR without creating an account.






• Monero protects what is written on its chain, but timing and IP data sit outside it.

Why fewer exchange accounts offer Monero

The removals came in steps. In January 2024, one large exchange delisted XMR, stating that the coin no longer fit its listing standards.

The next month, a second big platform ended XMR trading after reviewing which assets it would keep.

In late October 2024, a third halted XMR trading and deposits for a group of its customers.

The announcements pointed to listing criteria and asset reviews. Monero’s design is part of the picture too.

An exchange cannot read the history of XMR on the chain the way it can with Bitcoin, because Monero keeps that data private by design.

None of this changed how the network itself works.

XMR kept in a private wallet is not affected, and the chain runs as before. What changed is where people can get XMR.

Routes that remain for Monero without an exchange account

Three routes are left. The first is a swap, where you send a coin you already have, such as Bitcoin or Tether, and receive XMR at your own address.

The second is a peer-to-peer trade with another person. The third is mining, which pays new XMR in return for computing work.

Each route has a cost. A direct trade depends on trust in the other side, and scams are common where no escrow protects the deal.

Mining needs hardware and electricity, and it pays out in small amounts over time.

For most people who already own some crypto, a swap is the shortest path.

HiddenSwap (hiddenswap.com) is a no KYC crypto exchange for crypto-to-crypto swaps: no account, no email, and no ID are needed to swap.

The user gives a receiving address, sends the deposit, and gets XMR in a wallet they control.

Set up a Monero wallet first

Every route ends with coins sent to an address, so the wallet comes first.

The Monero project publishes an official wallet in two versions: a graphical app (GUI) and a command-line tool (CLI). Both are free and open source, and both are available on getmonero.org.

A new wallet shows a seed phrase when it is created. Write it down offline and never share it.

Anyone who has the seed controls the coins, and no honest swap service will ever ask for it.

The wallet then needs to sync with the network before it can show incoming coins.

Running your own node gives the most privacy. A remote node is quicker to start with, but its operator can see your IP address unless you connect through Tor.

Swapping another coin into XMR

A swap needs the coin you send and its network, the amount, and your XMR address.

An address for refunds, on the network of the coin you send, is optional.

It protects you if the swap cannot finish, which matters most when you send from a platform account.

Copy the XMR address your wallet shows under Receive, then look at the pasted text once more before you continue.

A new subaddress for each swap keeps your payouts separate from each other.

Send the exact amount in one transaction, on the network the order page names.

After the XMR arrives, it cannot be spent until 10 more blocks have been added, which takes about 20 minutes.

That lock is a Monero network rule, not a delay added by the swap service.

What Monero protects, and where metadata leaks

By default, Monero hides the amount, the sender, and the receiver of every payment.

Ring signatures blur which coin was spent, one-time addresses separate each payment from the public address, and RingCT hides the amount.

The project explains each of these on getmonero.org.

Metadata is a different layer. The point where coins enter from a public chain, the timing of payments and your IP address can still show patterns.

A wallet that connects over Tor and a fresh subaddress for each payment reduce what others can link.

The coin you send into a swap also keeps its own record.

A Bitcoin deposit stays visible on the Bitcoin chain. Only the Monero side of the swap gets Monero’s protections.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get Monero if I have no crypto yet?

A swap needs coins to send, so it only helps people who already have some crypto. Without any, the options are mining or a direct trade with another person. Both take more time and more care.

Which coins can be swapped into XMR?

Common choices are Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ether and Tether. HiddenSwap lists more than 1,000 coins and networks. Always send on the network the order page shows.

When can I spend the XMR I receive?

The deposit first needs confirmations on its own network. After the payout arrives, Monero locks the new coins for 10 blocks. Then they can be spent like any other XMR.

A wallet you control and one careful swap are all you need to get started with Monero without an exchange account today.