The cryptocurrency market is healing its wounds after a record blast. Within hours, over $19 billion worth of positions were liquidated, causing Bitcoin to plummet to $100,000. However, the queen of cryptos is already on the rise again: Bitcoin was trading at $116,000 on Monday morning, up nearly 5% in 24 hours before stabilizing around $115,000.
A similar scenario unfolded for Ethereum, which surged over 8% to $4,150, after briefly sliding to $3,500.
A record crash triggered by geopolitics
The shock was anything but “crypto-native.” On Friday, Beijing announced new restrictions on rare earth exports, crucial for the tech industry. A few hours later, Washington retaliated with a 100% tariff on Chinese tech imports. As a result, panic ensued on the markets, intensified by very low liquidity over the weekend.
The unprecedented cascade of forced liquidations swept through almost all leveraged positions before the market mechanically stabilized. As order books emptied, even short traders saw their positions cut via a last-resort mechanism called ADL (Auto-Deleveraging).
The numbers speak for themselves: according to Coinglass, over 1.6 million traders were liquidated in a single day, an absolute record in the history of cryptocurrencies, even as many liquidation data on CEXs remain unobtainable.
A mechanical recovery… but not trivial
Since Sunday, the pressure has eased. Leverage effects have been purged, volatility has stabilized, and confidence in the market seems to be returning. On Polymarket, the probability of the U.S. tariff actually taking effect by November 1st is assessed at only 15%.
“The fear was exaggerated,” said Vincent Liu, CIO of Kronos Research.
Liquidity is returning, traders are buying the dip, and the Uptober momentum remains intact.
The Uptober, a nickname for the often favorable month of October for the market, could therefore weather this storm. Especially as some technical signals are encouraging: whales are accumulating again, especially on Ethereum, and several oversold altcoins show signs of a sustainable rebound.
Attention turns to American inflation
The coming days will be decisive. Investors are watching the U.S. inflation report (CPI) and the Federal Reserve meeting, two events capable of reigniting volatility. Another crucial point: the evolution of institutional flows into crypto ETFs, a true market confidence barometer.
For Nassar Achkar, Director of Strategy at CoinW, “The bullish trend in October still stands, but it is walking a tightrope: traders are now hypersensitive to any macro shock, especially related to the U.S. / China standoff“.
The keyword of the moment? Caution, not panic.
The Uptober has taken a hit, perhaps not a standstill.
