Market Update: October 15, 2025

Last Friday, 10 October, marked the largest single-day liquidation event in cryptocurrency history. Over $19 billion in leveraged positions were eliminated within 24 hours – fifteen times the scale of the March 2020 COVID crash and significantly larger than the FTX collapse in 2022.

Figure 1: Total Liquidations on crypto derivatives exchanges, daily 

Source: Wall Street Journal 

Markets have since stabilised. BTC recovered from $102,000 to $115,000. ETH moved from $3,400 to $4,140.  

Institutional activity suggests that the dip was treated as a buying opportunity. BlackRock accumulated over $2.6 billion in Bitcoin last week. 

AMINA Bank’s systems remained operational throughout the weekend’s volatility when traditional markets were closed, with no downtime or service degradation. Our infrastructure, which is connected to over 15 crypto exchanges, platforms and OTC counterparties, supported the increased trading activity and price swings without interruption to client access or order execution, delivering continuous, real-time settlements. 

Market infrastructure is complex and every platform faces risks during extreme conditions. But our clients should know that their access to trading and custody services continued without disruption when it mattered. 

That said, let’s look at what transpired over the weekend and some initial learnings from the crypto market infrastructure’s biggest resiliency test to date. 

The trigger seemed to be President Trump’s announcement of 100% tariffs on Chinese imports, effective November 1. Posted on Truth Social during active trading hours, the news sent traditional markets down $1.2 trillion in 40 minutes. Crypto markets, operating with higher leverage and volatility, reacted more sharply. 

Source: The Truth Social

The event highlighted the importance of active risk management and diversification, and pointed to some deficiencies within crypto market infrastructure. As crypto and tradfi become increasingly integrated, crypto infrastructure exposure to risks and stressors also increases. While the tariff announcement sparked the sell-off, the scale of crypto liquidations seems to have been caused by several parts of the system. 

Exchange Infrastructure 

It is reported that several platforms experienced technical difficulties during peak volatility. Some users reported order book disruptions, account access issues, and pricing display errors that showed major tokens at $0.00. Others faced API outages and trade execution delays. Even platforms built for high performance processed billions in liquidations, testing their limits during extreme conditions.   

Pricing and Oracles

In such turbulent markets where sharp price swings are happening, there were significant price discrepancies of the same tokens in different marketplaces. The roles and reliability of some oracles and other pricing sources used for margin calculations are being questioned as some major exchanges had automated liquidations based on these prices. Some stablecoins reportedly were temporarily depegged before reclaiming their pegs. Other synthetic assets, which are onchain derivatives of crypto assets, including WBETH and BNSOL, are also reported to have depegged, compounding the issue.

Market Structure

System leverage reached high levels heading into the event. Bitcoin futures open interest stood at $45.3 billion. Many platforms offered leverage up to 100x with thin margin requirements, particularly for synthetic assets. When volatility hit, market makers withdrew to protect their capital. USDe liquidity on decentralised exchange Uniswap dropped 89% to $3.2 million. Automated stop-loss orders and deleveraging systems created selling cascades. Price discovery broke down as APIs lagged, and arbitrage capital couldn’t move fast enough between exchanges.

The liquidations hit across major assets: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana accounted for over $11 billion of the total.

As mentioned, markets have since stabilised as the following post by President Trump injected some optimism among traders on easing trade tensions and as institutional activity treated the dip as a buying opportunity.

Source: Truth Social 

Spot token holders remained largely away from trading as centralised exchanges suffered delays and DEXs saw lack of liquidity in impacted coins. It was mostly a leverage flush out.

Among altcoins, the big winner from market recovery was SNX which gained more than 120%. LINK, whose blockchain Chainlink was affected by oracle issues, gained 11% in the last 24 hours to $19.

The market is showing signs of a potential shift back to a bullish bias as derivatives metrics, including open interest and basis, show a pickup, post weekend crash.

Figure 2: Aggregated Open Interest of Bitcoin Futures 

Source: The Block (14.10.2025) 

Several factors will drive the next phase of crypto market action: potential altcoin spot ETFs approvals, scheduled spread through October, the Clarity Act in the US, and developments in AI and real-world asset tokenisation.

Friday’s events showed how geopolitical news, technical vulnerabilities on some of the major retail centralised platforms, and heightened leverage interact during stress. The tariff announcement was the spark, but the size of the crypto liquidations revealed the importance of active risk management and diversification and understanding the risks and opportunity that comes from leverage.

It’s a reminder that leverage amplifies both gains and losses. It’s also a reminder of the 24×7 nature of crypto markets, that can become divergent in the absence of signal flow from bigger risk markets.

While some traders were negatively affected, this sell-off also presented an opportunity for investors with calm nerves to acquire assets at a discount, which many did. We continue monitoring conditions and maintaining our systems to support client activity across market environments.

Disclaimer – Research   

This document has been prepared by AMINA Bank Ltd. (“AMINA”) in Switzerland. AMINA is a Swiss licensed bank and securities dealer with its head office and legal domicile in Switzerland. It is authorised and regulated by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (“FINMA”).  

This document is published solely for educational purposes; it is not an advertisement nor a solicitation or an offer to buy or sell any financial investment or to participate in any particular investment strategy. This document is for publication only on AMINA website, blog, and AMINA social media accounts as permitted by applicable law. It is not directed to, or intended for distribution to or use by, any person or entity who is a citizen or resident of or located in any locality, state, country or other jurisdiction where such distribution, publication, availability or use would be contrary to law or regulation or would subject AMINA to any registration or licensing requirement within such jurisdiction.  

Research will initiate, update and cease coverage solely at the discretion of AMINA. This document is based on various sources, incl. AMINA ones, and was generated using artificial intelligence (“AI”). No representation or warranty, either express or implied, is provided in relation to the accuracy, completeness or reliability of the information contained in this document, except with respect to information concerning AMINA. The information is not intended to be a complete statement or summary of the subjects alluded to in the document, whereas general information, financial investments, markets or developments. AMINA does not undertake to update or keep current information. Any statements contained in this document attributed to a third party represent AMINA’s interpretation of the data, information and/or opinions provided by that third party either publicly or through a subscription service, and such use and interpretation have not been reviewed by the third party.  

Any formulas, equations, or prices stated in this document are for informational or explanatory purposes only and do not represent valuations for individual investments. There is no representation that any transaction can or could have been affected at those formulas, equations, or prices, and any formula(s), equation(s), or price(s) do not necessarily reflect AMINA’s internal books and records or theoretical model-based valuations and may be based on certain assumptions. Different assumptions by AMINA or any other source may yield substantially different results.  

Nothing in this document constitutes a representation that any investment strategy or investment is suitable or appropriate to an investor’s individual circumstances or otherwise constitutes a personal recommendation. Investments involve risks, and investors should exercise prudence and their own judgment in making their investment decisions. Financial investments described in the document may not be eligible for sale in all jurisdictions or to certain categories of investors. Certain services and products are subject to legal restrictions and cannot be offered on an unrestricted basis to certain investors. Recipients are therefore asked to consult the restrictions relating to investments, products or services for further information. Furthermore, recipients may consult their legal/tax advisors should they require any clarifications.  

At any time, investment decisions (including, among others, deposit, buy, sell or hold investments) made by AMINA and its employees may differ from or be contrary to the opinions expressed in AMINA research publications.  

This document may not be reproduced, or copies circulated without prior authority of AMINA. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, AMINA expressly prohibits the distribution and transfer of this document to third parties for any reason. AMINA accepts no liability whatsoever for any claims or lawsuits from any third parties arising from the use or distribution of this document.  

©AMINA, Kolinplatz 15, 6300 Zug