Bitcoin’s Strong Q3 Overshadowed by MetaMask Staking Incident and Balancer Shutdown
Bitcoin concluded its best third quarter since 2017, surging 42.71% according to CoinGlass. This performance, while impressive, still lagged behind the 80.41% gain seen in 2017. The asset had a rocky start to 2026, with declines of 22.2% and 14.09% in the first two quarters. Despite a brief dip to $82,500 on September 29 due to rising U.S. Treasury yields and a stronger dollar, Bitcoin rebounded above $84,000. On October 2, it broke through resistance around $85,500, reaching $86,913, its highest point since late September.
MetaMask exited part of its validators following a security incident affecting its staking infrastructure. The nature of the incident remains undisclosed, but independent researchers reported that attackers obtained about 0.36 ETH by changing the fee recipient address for some validators. Around 17,000 validators, holding approximately 523,000 ETH, were exited as a precaution. MetaMask assured users that no wallets or funds were affected. The mass exit significantly increased Ethereum’s withdrawal queue from ~170,000 ETH to over 800,000 ETH by October 3.
In other news, BAL holders voted to wind down Balancer, with 99.2% support for the shutdown. The protocol’s pools will operate until October 30, allowing users to withdraw assets. Meanwhile, BitMart acknowledged a shortfall in repaying customers, primarily due to the 2021 hack, and proposed three repayment options. Additionally, the developers of the L2 network Blast announced its shutdown due to unsustainable costs, with its token BLAST plummeting 68% over the week.
Altcoins showed mixed performance, with Ethereum falling 0.3% to $2,700, XRP declining 2% to $1.5, and Zcash sliding 19.48% to $1,330 after a rally in late September. Citigroup raised its 12-month forecast for Bitcoin to $113,000 and for Ethereum to $3,028, citing increased market activity and supportive macro conditions. By week’s end, Bitcoin held above $85,000, with the crypto Fear and Greed Index dropping from 70 to 65 but remaining in the “greed” zone.