Last weekend, the crypto market experienced one of its most dramatic days in history. Bitcoin’s 18% pulldown triggered over $19 billion in liquidations within hours, the largest such event ever recorded. Cryptocurrencies and investor portfolios bled significantly, driving a massive wave of selling in the spot market.
Now that the worst is over, the market is still reeling from the pain and navigating the aftermath of the event. Amid the chaos, analysts at the crypto exchange Bitfinex have stated in their latest report that the market still shows resilience and recovery patterns. Cryptocurrencies may still have the potential to deliver a positive October for investors.
What Really Happened?
On Friday, October 10, an escalation of U.S.-China tariff tensions triggered a market-wide reaction that led to one of the largest pullbacks in history. BTC plummeted from a high above $126,000 to $101,000 (on some exchanges), wiping out all gains accumulated in roughly six weeks.
A previous Bitfinex report highlighted that the $118,000 level was crucial for BTC because of the dense supply cluster at that range. Analysts also mentioned that a decline below this price would be followed by further downside, and this prediction played out on Friday, even exceeding expectations.
The total crypto market cap fell by more than 13.2% within 24 hours to $3.7 trillion, losing roughly $1 trillion. Some altcoins lost 80%-90% of their value as order books thinned out. Long positions saw the most liquidations, with BTC and ETH leading the carnage.
Bitfinex attributed a large portion of the decline to aggressive spot selling across major exchanges in the hour preceding the U.S.-China tariff news. The imbalance between spot buyers and sellers exacerbated the liquidations as the market structure was weak.
Although the liquidation event was the largest in history, Bitfinex clarified that bitcoin’s decline was nowhere close to its largest pullback in this cycle. The only issue was the speed of the plunge, as it resulted in extreme moves across several altcoins.
Is There Still Hope?
Since the event played out in a period of positive seasonality for BTC, analysts believe a swift recovery remains possible. However, major crypto assets need to consolidate and narrower price channels need to be sustained over several weeks for stability.
Bitcoin needs to reclaim and hold above $110,000 with sustained spot buying pressure. If the leading asset fails to regain this level, then it would likely retest the October 10 lows.