Sign in Subscribe

Weekly Index Highlights, October 27, 2025

Digital assets rebounded week-on-week, led by XRP and SOL. Sector gains broadened across CF DACS cohorts, while staking indices diverged. Capitalization tiers advanced, volatility eased, and BTC/USDT curves normalized. Our CF Factor Data signaled Liquidity and Growth styles were mildly favored.

CF Benchmarks

• 5 min read
Weekly Index Highlights, October 27, 2025

Market Performance Update

Large-caps have clawed back some ground after two weeks of losses, marking a steadier close to October. Within the CME CF Single Asset Series, XRP (XRP) led with a +7.29% gain in the most recent week, leaving the token with a +21.02% year-to-date return; followed by Solana (SOL) +4.01% (YTD +4.59%) and Bitcoin (BTC) +2.17% (YTD +20.82%). Cardano (ADA) and Ether (ETH) also advanced, +1.33% and +0.88%, consolidating mid-month support. Among assets less favored, Avalanche (AVAX) continued lower, losing −1.78%, and Chainlink (LINK) tanked further −3.79%. The rotation back toward higher-liquidity majors leaves breadth constructive, though participation remains uneven. Overall, we saw what looked like a corrective rally over the week, rather than renewed ‘risk-on’.

Sector Analysis

Through the CF Digital Asset Classification Structure (CF DACS) lens, performance improved week-on-week, with clear leaders and laggards across segments. Standout gains included Bitcoin Cash (BCH) +13.26%; APE, in Culture’s Social segment, +7.49%, and in Finance, BAL, a Trading token, was up +6.80%. Among General Purpose Smart Contract Platforms, APT rose +6.45%; with SOL +4.01%. Computing token HNT gained +6.24%; while PRIME, in Gaming, added +4.18%. Laggards were concentrated in higher-beta cohorts: SNX, a Derivatives protocol, nosedived −26.90%; BAT (VR & AR, in Culture) shed −10.46%; while FET (Computing; Infrastructure) was another loser, −5.53%. The overall profile for the week was orderly rather than disorderly. Breadth broadened on the upside (notably in Store Of Value & Payment and Smart Contract Platforms) while the week’s heaviest declines clustered in Derivatives, Scaling, and select Culture segments.

CF Staking Series

Staking indices were once again mixed week-on-week. APT staking edged slightly higher, +0.16% (+1.00 bps); AVAX staking edged slightly lower, −0.16% (−0.89 bps). SOL gained a little more, +0.54% (+3.30 bps), and NEAR gained +1.37% (+13.41 bps). Meanwhile, ETH staking was the laggard, with a definitive decline, −3.15% (−8.20 bps). Year-to-date readings stand as follows: APT −4.46% (−28.74 bps), AVAX −6.75% (−40.26 bps), ETH −13.64% (−39.88 bps), NEAR +1.47% (+14.37 bps), SOL −10.48% (−71.36 bps). Net read-through for the most recent week suggests carry expanded for NEAR and SOL, was flat-to-softer for APT and AVAX, and was most compressed for ETH.

Market Cap Index Performance

The CF Capitalization Series advanced week-on-week across all tiers, extending October’s recovery. CF Large Cap (Diversified Weight) rose +2.73% (YTD +10.08%), while CF Broad Cap Index (Diversified Weight) gained +2.58% (YTD +7.43%). CF Ultra Cap 5 climbed +2.36% (YTD +19.27%), and CF Institutional Digital Asset Index increased +1.96% (YTD +20.91%). Free-float market-cap variants moved in parallel: CF Large Cap (Free Float Market Cap Weight) +2.33% (YTD +16.74%) and CF Broad Cap Index (Free Float Market Cap Weight) +2.29% (YTD +14.67%). The uniformity of gains underscores systematic inflows across capitalization tiers and renewed liquidity concentration among the highest-weighted constituents.

Classification Series Analysis

The CF Classification Series advanced modestly week-on-week. CF Web 3.0 Smart Contract Platforms Index gained +1.57% (YTD −16.51%), CF Digital Culture Composite Index rose +1.42% (YTD −48.61%), and CF DeFi Composite Index added +0.61% (YTD −28.97%). The rebound was led by Smart-Contract Platforms and Culture, while DeFi lagged slightly. The pattern echoes prior recovery phases, where utility-oriented themes stabilize first, followed by slower rotation into liquidity-sensitive cohorts.

Volatility Analysis

Volatility moderated further in the recently completed week. The CF Bitcoin Volatility Index (BVX) declined from its close on Friday October 17th, at 51.98 to 45.20 (−13.04%), while realized volatility edged up slightly to 44.77 from 43.31 (+1.46 pts). With implied falling faster than realized, the implied–realized gap narrowed, signaling reduced hedging demand, and a return to measured two-way trading. Current BVX levels remain above the 12-month low (34.77) but comfortably below the 12-month high (66.09), leaving the volatility surface firm yet orderly — a hallmark of range-bound consolidation.

Interest Rate Analysis

Crypto funding conditions eased week-on-week, looking at our proprietary Bitcoin and USDT curves. The CF Bitcoin Interest Rate Curve (BIRC) printed SIRB at 0.32%, 1W 2.32%, 2W 1.32%, 3W 1.53%, and 1M 1.81%, with tenors beyond 1-month steady between 1.18–1.55%. The CF USDT Interest Rate Curve remained elevated but slightly compressed: SIRB was at 5.41%, 1W at 5.39%, and 1M at 5.32%; tapering to 5.04% at 5M. The shape of both curves is flat-to-mildly downward-sloping, reflecting restrained leverage and steady front-end funding. BTC’s front remains anchored, while USDT carry shows continued softening, consistent with a calmer liquidity backdrop.

Factors Analysis

No specific 'style' stood out sharply in the most recent week, with CF Factor Intelligence data exhibiting mixed returns among our CF Benchmarks-validated Digital Asset Factors. Liquidity led with a +1.47% gain, followed by Growth +0.36%, and Value +0.32%. On the negative side, Downside Beta retreated −0.27%, Momentum, −0.27%, and Size, −0.30%. The composition indicates a rotation toward liquidity preference and quality factors, while risk-sensitive and cyclical exposures eased. Dispersion across styles narrowed versus the prior week, leaving factor breadth balanced into month-end.

The information contained within is for educational and informational purposes ONLY. It is not intended nor should it be considered an invitation or inducement to buy or sell any of the underlying instruments cited including but not limited to cryptoassets, financial instruments or any instruments that reference any index provided by CF Benchmarks Ltd. This communication is not intended to persuade or incite you to buy or sell security or securities noted within. Any commentary provided is the opinion of the author and should not be considered a personalised recommendation. Please contact your financial adviser or professional before making an investment decision.

CF Benchmarks Ltd (“CF Benchmarks”), a company registered in England and Wales with company number 11654816 and authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Information about us can be found on the Financial Services Register (register number 847100).

Registered Office: 6th Floor One London Wall, London, United Kingdom, EC2Y 5EB.

You agree not to, and have no rights to, use the CF Benchmarks Data to create, calculate, issue, settle, maintain, support or develop any financial instruments (including but, without limitation exchange traded products, certificates, warrants, contracts for difference, swaps, binary options, structured products), indices, products, services (including but without limitation, portfolio management services, pre- and post-trade risk management services, or valuation services) or any other derivative works without the express written consent of CF Benchmarrks.

You agree not to analyze, reverse-engineer or disassemble any CF Benchmarks data and not to insert any code or product to manipulate the Website content in any way that affects any user’s experience. Unless CF Benchmarks gives you prior written permission, use of any Web browsers (other than generally available third-party browsers), engines, scripts, software, spiders, robots, avatars, agents, tools or other devices or mechanisms (such as crawlers, browser plug-ins and add-ons, or other technology) to navigate, access, copy in bulk, retrieve, harvest, index, search or analyse any portion of the Website is strictly prohibited.

No part of this information may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of CF Benchmarks Ltd. Use and distribution of the CF Benchmarks data requires a license from CF Benchmarks or its authorized licensing agents.

All information is provided for information purposes only. All information and data contained on this website is obtained by CF Benchmarks, from sources believed by it to be accurate and reliable. Such information and data is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind.

CF Benchmarks, nor its directors, officers, employees, partners or licensors make any claim, prediction, warranty or representation whatsoever, expressly or implied, either as to the accuracy, timeliness, completeness or merchantability of any information or of results to be obtained from the use of the CF Benchmarks indices or the fitness or suitability of the same indices for any particular purpose to which they might be put. Any representation of historical data accessible through CF Benchmarks indices is provided for information purposes only and is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

No responsibility or liability can be accepted by CF Benchmarks nor their respective directors, officers, employees, partners or licensors for any loss or damage in whole or in part caused by, resulting from, or relating to any error (negligent or otherwise) or other circumstance involved in procuring, collecting, compiling, interpreting, analysing, editing, transcribing, transmitting, communicating or delivering any such information or data or from use of this website or links to this website.

CF Benchmarks and its respective directors, officers, employees, partners or licensors do not provide investment advice and nothing accessible through CF Benchmarks, should be taken as constituting financial or investment advice or a financial promotion. Charts and graphs are provided for illustrative purposes only. Index returns shown may not represent the results of the actual trading of any assets.

CF Benchmarks is a member of the Crypto Facilities group of companies which is in turn a member of the Payward, Inc. group of companies. Payward, Inc. is the owner and operator of the Kraken Exchange, a venue that facilitates the trading of cryptocurrencies. The Kraken Exchange is a source of input data for certain CF Benchmarks indices. Payward, Inc. is the owner and operator of the Staked, a venue that operates the block production nodes for decentralized PoS protocols on behalf of institutional investors. Staked.us is a source of input data for certain CF Benchmarks indices.

Please refer to the individual product family documentation for more information about applicable input data sources.