crypto’s October reckoning beyond the $20B washout
There are moments when crypto’s fiercely optimistic traders are forced to reckon with markets’ unwritten rules. October 10 2025 delivered one of those reality checks. A day when leverage was punished, liquidity vanished, and even seasoned participants found themselves staring at red screens as billions were wiped off the crypto market.
The anatomy of the crypto market meltdown
The spark for the carnage was a potent mix of macro triggers: trade tensions and tariff headlines drove a risk-off cascade. Within a single hour, Bitcoin plummeted by about 13%, and altcoins experienced even worse slippage. Some, like ATOM, briefly plunged to near-zero on illiquid exchanges before partial recoveries.
Market-wide, more than $20 billion in…
