On Oct 10–11, crypto markets experienced the largest liquidation event on record, exceeding $19 billion in forced sales across leveraged positions.
The plunge was precipitated by a late Friday announcement from U.S. President Donald Trump imposing a 100% tariff on Chinese imports and threatening export controls on critical software, which sparked panic selling and severely depleted liquidity in major digital assets.
During the crash, bitcoin fell as low as $104,782.88, marking a 14% decline from its prior high of $122,574.46, while ether dropped 12.2% to $3,436.29 before modest recoveries late in the weekend.
Options market data indicated heavy buying of put contracts as investors sought protection against further down-side risk, with significant open interest concentrated at $115,000 and $95,000 strikes for bitcoin and $4,000 and $3,600 strikes for ether, reflecting growing bearish sentiment into month-end.
Despite the washout, sustained inflows into bitcoin and a softened rhetoric from Washington helped markets claw back losses, leaving bitcoin up 0.6% at $115,718.13 and ether up 2.4% at $4,254 by Monday base case closing.
Analysts noted that the deleveraging blowout has purged excess risk, resetting margin requirements and reinforcing bitcoin’s “blue-chip” status, though key resistance levels near $125,000 for bitcoin and $4,500 for ether remain critical hurdles for any sustained rally.
Trading discipline experts warned that retained volatility could lead to further shake-outs ahead of the U.S. government’s next policy moves, as institutional participants rebalance allocations between digital assets and traditional safe havens.
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