USDCrypto Market Suffers Worst Liquidation Event Since Inception as Top Coins Dump Sharply
$19B Liquidated, $400B in Value Erased, and Altcoins Crushed to Unthinkable Lows
TL;DR
- Around $19.1 billion in crypto positions were liquidated within 24 hours — the largest single-day liquidation in crypto history.
- $400 billion was wiped from the coin market cap, with Bitcoin sinking to $101,500 and Ethereum to $3,373.67.
- Major altcoins like XRP, DOGE, SUI, and ATOM suffered flash crashes, and some smaller altcoins plunged over 99% before partial recovery.
A brutal cascade hit the digital asset markets on October 10–11, 2025, as President Donald Trump’s announcement of 100% tariffs on Chinese imports sent shockwaves through global risk assets. The move triggered a synchronized collapse across equities and cryptocurrencies, marking the worst liquidation event since the birth of crypto trading.
Data showed more than $19.1 billion in long and short positions were liquidated in just 24 hours, with $16.7 billion of that from longs and an estimated 1.6 million traders caught in the wipeout. Data feed disruptions and delayed reporting on exchanges such as Binance and Bybit suggested that actual liquidation figures could have been even higher. The crypto price index plunged as total market capitalization fell by roughly $400 billion, from around $4.15 trillion to $3.74 trillion.
Bitcoin, the market’s anchor, crashed to $101,500 USDT before stabilizing around $111,000, while Ethereum plummeted to $3,373.67 USDT, later clawing back toward $3,800. Solana cratered to $144.82, and BNB touched $860 then slightly rebounded, underscoring the breadth of the collapse.
But the real carnage unfolded across altcoins, where liquidity dried up and order books thinned beyond recognition. XRP tumbled to $1.25, DOGE to $0.095, SUI to $0.55, and IP hovered at $1. XPL disintegrated from $2.7 just days earlier to $0.25, ARB crashed to $0.1, AAVE slid to $79, PENDLE hit $1.65, JUP sank to $0.05, ENA dropped to $0.13, and UNI broke below $2. IOTX briefly traded near $0.00000, a symbolic zero-point for overleveraged DeFi bets. Even meme-linked TRUMP tokens plunged to $1.5, while ATOM recorded one of the most shocking prints in market history — collapsing to $0.001, an over 4,000x intraday wipeout.
Data from major derivatives platforms revealed an ETH-USDT long worth $203 million on Hyperliquid as the single largest liquidation of the day. Hyperliquid itself processed an estimated $10.28 billion in total liquidations, with $9.3 billion from longs, showing how both centralized and decentralized markets collapsed in tandem. Binance’s futures insurance fund drained $188 million, dropping from $1.23 billion to $1.04 billion in an attempt to stabilize losses and prevent negative balances. Meanwhile, BNB futures registered $706.2 million in total liquidations — $648.5 million from longs — its worst single day of the year.
A few traders managed to profit amid the bloodbath. One whale reportedly pocketed $72.33 million shorting BTC and ETH, later withdrawing $60 million USDC to Arbitrum.
Others capitalized on erratic price anomalies, such as WBETH at $430 and BNSOL at $34.9, while DeFi stablecoin USDe briefly depegged to $0.6268 before recovering. Ethena Labs confirmed that redemption and minting remained operational throughout the storm, noting its over-collateralization ratio improved due to realized hedge gains. Analysts at Hyblock Capital summed up the chaos: “Global 2x leverage on most altcoins was totally wiped out.”
Market veterans said the meltdown exposed how much leverage had built up beneath the surface. Vincent Liu of Kronos Research argued that “the tariffs were the spark, but leverage was the gasoline.” David Jeong of Tread.fi described the sell-off as a “black swan event,” while Arthur Hayes remarked, “We won’t be seeing those levels any time soon on many high-quality alts,” suggesting a structural reset rather than a terminal decline.
Trump’s rhetoric added fuel to the panic. His Truth Social post accused China of being “extraordinarily aggressive,” promising new export controls effective November 1 on “virtually every product,” including rare earths, a crucial input for semiconductor production. Wall Street tumbled in response — the Nasdaq dropped 3.6%, Treasury yields spiked, and liquidity across global markets evaporated. The simultaneous equity and crypto correction triggered widespread margin calls, deepening the sell pressure on both asset classes.
Some signs of recovery began appearing late Saturday as exchanges stabilized and liquidation engines cooled. Market makers began absorbing inventory and arbitraging price gaps between spot and perpetual markets. Zaheer Ebtikar of Split Capital noted that “once dealers fill long, they’ll start unwinding spot and perp when equilibrium returns,” predicting a drawn-out bottoming process rather than a rapid V-shaped rebound.
Macroeconomic uncertainty remains the dominant overhang. Despite a partial government shutdown, the Bureau of Labor Statistics recalled staff to ensure that September’s CPI would be released on time, a move markets read as an effort to maintain stability before the next FOMC meeting. Traders are increasingly focused on inflation trends after observing that BTC sold off even during a prior 0.2% month-on-month CPI print, reflecting a loss of confidence in the “rate-cut equals rally” narrative.
Analysts across multiple outlets agree that this episode represents the largest forced deleveraging in crypto’s history — greater in nominal size than both the FTX implosion and the 2020 COVID crash combined. The crypto price structure now faces a gradual normalization phase as ETF markets remain closed over the weekend and institutional desks manage risk drawdowns. With geopolitical tensions and macro headwinds tightening simultaneously, the global coin market cap reset of October 2025 will likely be remembered as the definitive cleansing moment for this cycle — a day when overextended leverage met its reckoning and the crypto market bled out on a scale never seen before.
This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.
