One year after 10/10, Bitcoin and Ether liquidity is back while altcoins lag

A year ago, crypto markets had one of the worst single days in their history. On October 10, 2025, more than $19 billion in leveraged positions were wiped out within 24 hours.

Twelve months later, Bitcoin and Ether have largely rebuilt the liquidity they lost. The rest of the altcoin market is still waiting for its turn.

The trigger was political, not technical. President Trump announced a 100% tariff on Chinese imports, and the news landed on a market already stacked high with leverage.

Most of the more than $19 billion in liquidations hit long positions, meaning traders who had borrowed to bet on higher prices were forcibly closed out as prices fell.

Bitcoin dropped approximately 12-17% intraday from an all-time high of around $126,000. Each forced sale pushed prices lower, which triggered the next round of forced sales.

Major exchanges saw severe price dislocations during the chaos.

The damage to altcoin derivatives was especially lasting. Open interest in altcoins, the total value of outstanding futures contracts, fell from approximately $70 billion before the crash to around $30 billion by mid-December 2025.

Perpetual futures open interest across the market contracted sharply as well, signaling that a large share of speculative capital simply left the building.