Zcash Prepares an Upgrade as ZEC Rises 10%
Zcash developers plan to launch the NU7 upgrade on November 5. Miners and node operators must prepare the network for the changes before the rollout.
After the upgrade, blocks will be produced every 25 seconds instead of every 75 seconds. Mining reward rules will also change, and support for some older transaction types will end. However, daily ZEC issuance will remain unchanged.
Following the announcement, ZEC rose by more than 10%, reaching $1.27K. Its market capitalization approached $21.5 billion.
Another important change concerns the Sprout privacy pool. Users must move their funds before NU7 launches, as withdrawals will no longer be possible after the upgrade.
BTC Fails to Hold $85K and Falls Below $82K
BTC failed to hold above $85K. After rising to $84.8K, the price reversed and fell to $81.7K. Over 24 hours, the total crypto market capitalization declined by 1.3% to $2.74 trillion. ETH lost around 2%, falling to $2.4K. Most major altcoins also traded lower.
The decline triggered widespread liquidations, with exchanges forcibly closing $431 million worth of traders' positions. Of that amount, $257 million came from long positions betting on rising prices.
At the same time, investors continued to put money into spot BTC ETFs. The funds attracted $528 million in the latest trading session, bringing monthly inflows to $1.8 billion.
Market attention is now focused on the $82.5K level. If BTC fails to hold this support, selling pressure across the crypto market could intensify.
Altcoins Lose Ground as Liquidation Risks Rise
Capital is gradually shifting from altcoins into BTC and ETH. Over the past week, alternative cryptocurrencies lost an average of 5.69%. By comparison, BTC fell 0.7%, while ETH declined 2.4%.
The next key level for BTC is $82.5K. If the price drops below it, $70K could become the next target. A move above $87K, on the other hand, could improve market conditions.
Another concern is the large number of leveraged long positions. If prices continue to fall, exchanges may forcibly close these positions, triggering additional selling and accelerating losses across altcoins.
Meanwhile, selling pressure on BTC has eased. However, market volatility could increase in the coming days amid major economic events.
BTC Mining Difficulty Hits a Seven-Month High
BTC mining activity is picking up again. Mining difficulty increased by 5.92% to 140.58 trillion, its highest level since March 2026.
Over the past month, the network's hashrate rose by 29.6% to approximately 1,060 EH/s. In mid-September, it had fallen to 820 EH/s.
These metrics are closely connected. Hashrate measures the total computing power used by the network, while mining difficulty determines how hard it is to find new blocks. When computing power increases, blocks may be found more quickly, so the network adjusts difficulty to maintain its target block time.
Despite the increase in computing power, the average time between blocks remains around 10 minutes. The current block reward is 3.125 BTC.
The latest figures suggest that some computing capacity is returning to mining, although certain companies had previously redirected equipment toward artificial intelligence workloads.
How to Check Whether the USDT You Received Is Genuine
A token displaying the USDT name and Tether logo is not necessarily the genuine stablecoin. Anyone can create a fake token using the same name.
You can verify USDT in a few steps:
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Identify the network. Check where the funds were sent, such as Ethereum or Tron.
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Find the transaction. Open it in the relevant blockchain explorer.
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Copy the contract address. You can find it in the token information.
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Verify the address. Compare it with Tether's official USDT contract address for that network. Every character must match.
Do not rely solely on the displayed balance or a successful transaction status. Fake tokens can also be transferred between wallets and may even display a nominal market value.
The rule is simple: always verify the contract address before accepting USDT as payment.
ETH ETFs Lose More Than $1.1 Billion Since Early October
The crypto market continued to decline alongside global financial markets. On the morning of October 23, BTC traded below $81.7K, while ETH fell below $2.4K. Total market capitalization stood at $2.74 trillion.
Outflows from ETH investment funds have been particularly significant. Since the beginning of October, these funds have lost more than $1.1 billion. By comparison, BTC ETFs recorded outflows of around $176 million.
Further uncertainty came from reports of a possible delay to Ethereum's Glamsterdam upgrade. Developers reportedly discovered a vulnerability during testing that could affect the launch timeline.
At the same time, the crypto industry continues to develop. Financial companies are launching new projects focused on tokenizing real-world assets and creating stablecoins. Despite falling prices, interest in new blockchain applications remains strong.
