XRP and Zcash Gain Millions as Bitcoin ETFs See Outflows

If you took a peek at your crypto portfolio today, October 23, 2026, you might have noticed some red across major assets. But behind the price dips lies a fascinating story of institutional money shifting places. While Bitcoin faced massive fund outflows, privacy coins like Zcash and banking-focused assets like XRP absorbed millions of dollars. Meanwhile, high-stakes corporate drama erupted between top blockchain projects. Let's break down everything happening in the crypto world today in plain, simple English.

Big Capital Shift: $635 Million Leaves Bitcoin ETFs

The broader crypto market cap currently stands at $2.75 trillion, with a 24-hour trading volume of $108.21 billion. Bitcoin is holding around $81,657.29 with a market dominance of roughly 60%. However, institutional investors pulled back significantly from Bitcoin spot ETFs, recording a net outflow of $634.99 million in a single day—one of the largest pullbacks seen in recent months.

This outflow wasn't unique to Bitcoin. EthereumETH-0.93% spot ETFs also shed $26.13 million, while Solana ETFs saw $2.65 million walk out the door. It appears large players were locking in profits and taking risk off the table due to broader macroeconomic pressures. Over in traditional finance, the S&P 500 slipped by 1.24%, tech stocks took a hit, and gold traded at $4,029.80. While capital moved out of major crypto assets, it did not leave the ecosystem entirely; instead, big money rotated directly into specific altcoins. Keep in mind that digital asset markets can experience rapid sentiment swings, so fund flows can reverse quickly.

Where is the Money Going? XRP and Zcash Take Center Stage

While retail traders were taking losses during the dip, institutional buyers used limit orders to accumulate privacy and banking tokens. The biggest winner of this capital rotation was Grayscale's spot Zcash ETF (ZCSH). The fund absorbed $14.23 million in net daily inflows, marking its third straight day of positive gains following inflows of $23.16 million and $12.88 million in previous sessions. This brought the fund's total assets under management to $681.39 million, giving institutional investors control over roughly 3.11% of Zcash's entire market cap.

Zcash is currently celebrating its 10th anniversary, and its historical growth has been noteworthy. For perspective, a $1,000 investment in Zcash made five years ago would be worth around $7,178 today. However, readers should remember that past performance of digital assets is not an indicator of future results. You can track real-time asset market dynamics at Bitkub Market. Beyond ETF growth, Zcash developers recently utilized Anthropic's Claude AI tools to run formal security checks on code ahead of their major Network Upgrade 7 (NU7) hard fork scheduled for November 5.

A major battle over Zcash infrastructure is also heating up in the U.S. Gemini founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are competing against Digital Currency Group's Barry Silbert for control over privacy technology. As AI tracking increases on public blockchains, privacy features are becoming highly valued by large capital holders. Mining companies controlled by these figures—Cypherpunk Technologies and Fortitude Mining—each command about 20% of the Zcash network hashrate.

XRP Gains Ground Ahead of RippleXRP-1.68% Swell

XRP also showed impressive resilience against the market pullback, rising 0.66% on the day to trade around $1.3172. Spot XRP ETFs recorded $3.55 million in daily net inflows, driven entirely by Franklin Templeton's FBIT pool. Cumulative historical inflows into XRP ETFs have now topped $1.8 billion, with total assets under management reaching $1.49 billion.

In business news, Ripple announced a partnership with Arf to provide cross-border liquidity for its RLUSD stablecoin on the XRP Ledger, while planning Web3 lending features ahead of the upcoming Ripple Swell conference. Additionally, prediction market traders on Kalshi have been pricing in a potential scenario where XRP rises to $1.80 by year-end. However, achieving such targets depends on continued institutional inflows, positive conference announcements, and stable market conditions; if broader market sentiment turns negative or legal hurdles re-emerge, XRP prices could pull back instead.

Web3 Drama: DFINITY Accuses NEAR ProtocolNEAR-3.95% of Code Theft

While capital shifted across tokens, a fiery corporate dispute erupted in the blockchain development space. Dominic Williams, the founder of DFINITY (the organization behind Internet ComputerICP-0.33% / ICP), publicly accused NEAR Protocol of stealing patented technology. Williams alleged that a key part of NEAR's new feature, NEAR Intents, relies on DFINITY's patented threshold ECDSA signature algorithm.

Williams further claimed that NEAR's implementation runs on only 8 servers, making it centralized, and pointed to recent emergency code rollbacks on NEAR's GitHub repository due to legal risks in the U.S. Following these public accusations, NEAR's native token fell 1.29% to $4.96 as investors evaluated potential litigation risks.

Asia Leads Real-World Stablecoin Adoption

While Western markets dealt with ETF flows and legal spats, major financial institutions in Asia made huge strides toward bringing stablecoins into everyday life:

• HSBC Launches Red Coin in Hong Kong: Banking titan HSBC (managing $3.4 trillion in assets) officially launched Red Coin (RCHKD). Backed 100% by the Hong Kong dollar and licensed by the HKMA, it is instantly available to 3.3 million users on the PayMe app across 100,000 local merchants.
• South Korea Legalizes Stablecoins: Starting December 3, South Korea will officially recognize stablecoins as legal payment instruments. To capitalize on this $68 billion local crypto market, LG Group's IT unit (LG CNS) partnered with Chainlink to digitize the Korean won.

Market Liquidation: $332 Million Wiped Out

The sudden market dip caused major grief for leveraged traders. Over the past 24 hours, 82,246 traders were liquidated, wiping out $332.09 million in futures positions. The vast majority of these liquidations—82.6% ($274.37 million)—hit bullish traders holding long positions.

Ethereum derivatives saw the heaviest losses with $59.54 million in liquidations (82.1% longs), followed closely by Bitcoin derivatives at $52.28 million (87.3% longs). Crypto exchange Binance accounted for 45.5% of total liquidations, while the single largest liquidation order occurred on Hyperliquid in the XYZ:SOXL-USD pair, valued at $4.34 million. This pullback closely tracked tech stocks in the U.S., where tech indices dropped heavily after Meta announced AI spending plans of up to $135 billion.

Key Indicators to Watch in the Coming Days

As the market settles after this shakeout, here are the key factors and events traders are monitoring:

• Bitcoin Support Levels: Whether BTCBTC-0.56% can maintain the $81,700–$82,000 price corridor will determine if the market recovers quickly or faces further consolidation.
• Zcash Hard Fork (Nov 5): The upcoming NU7 upgrade serves as a key technological driver for ongoing ZEC institutional demand.
• Ripple Swell Conference: Potential product updates regarding the RLUSD stablecoin could impact XRP's momentum against local resistance levels around $1.32 to $1.50.
• DFINITY vs. NEAR Dispute: Official legal responses or court filings regarding code patent claims will likely dictate NEAR's short-term price stability.

Overall, analysts view today's movements as a healthy market correction rather than a structural bubble burst. However, crypto markets remain inherently volatile, so always ensure you evaluate your risk tolerance and stay informed before making financial decisions.