Following a remarkable surge past $126,000, Bitcoin and the entire cryptocurrency market faced significant volatility — and quite literally. On Friday, the crypto sector experienced its largest liquidation event ever, amounting to approximately $19 billion.
This wipeout eclipsed even the darkest days of the FTX collapse in 2022, highlighting both the market’s growth since and its fragility.
The sell-off initiated in the typical crypto manner. Reports indicated that US President Donald Trump might have misunderstood China’s export controls, triggering a broad tariff threat that caused risk assets to plummet.
As markets faltered, crypto price feeds temporarily displayed zero values for certain tokens, with traders losing years of profits in moments.
Once the chaos subsided, Binance once again took center stage. The exchange has since unveiled a significant relief program designed to assist traders affected by the crash.
This week’s Crypto Biz reviews Binance’s relief commitment, JPMorgan’s recent crypto initiative, the ongoing ascent of Bitcoin (BTC) treasury firms, and Elon Musk’s viewpoint comparing Bitcoin to “sound money.”
Binance initiates $400 million relief program for traders
Binance announced a $400 million relief initiative for traders impacted by the market crash on Oct. 10, allegedly triggered by President Trump’s tariff threat against China.
The situation quickly escalated into one of the largest liquidation waves in the crypto industry, wiping out roughly $19 billion in leveraged positions.
Through this new program, Binance plans to distribute $300 million in token vouchers to qualifying users. To be eligible, traders must have experienced liquidations on futures or margin positions during the peak tumult—between Friday 00:00 UTC and Saturday 23:59 UTC.
The exchange also intends to create a $100 million low-interest loan fund for ecosystem participants impacted by the volatility. However, Binance has stressed that it “does not accept liability for users’ losses.”
This comes after significant backlash from traders, some of whom reported technical difficulties that prevented them from closing positions, as well as interface bugs that briefly showed several token prices at zero.
Binance was also associated with an incident impacting Ethena’s USDe synthetic stablecoin, which temporarily lost its peg amidst the market turmoil.
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JPMorgan set to enter crypto trading
From skeptic to participant, US banking behemoth JPMorgan is gearing up to provide cryptocurrency trading services for its clients, marking Wall Street’s ongoing pivot towards digital assets.
In an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box Europe, Scott Lucas, the bank’s global head of markets and digital assets, mentioned that while crypto custody isn’t part of JPMorgan’s immediate focus, trading services are on the way.
“I think Jamie [Dimon] made it clear on Investor Day that we’re going to engage in trading, but custody is not on the agenda right now,” Lucas stated, referring to JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, a long-time critic of Bitcoin.
Even with Dimon’s historical skepticism, JPMorgan has progressively expanded its crypto engagements over the years.
The bank had previously collaborated with Coinbase to provide banking services for its clients and developed its own blockchain-based payment system, JPM Coin, tailored for institutional clients.
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Corporations are increasingly investing in Bitcoin
The number of companies holding Bitcoin has jumped by 38% in a mere three months, reflecting an extraordinary interest in Bitcoin as a reserve asset, likely fueled by the success of Michael Saylor’s Strategy.
In its Q3 Corporate Bitcoin Adoption Report, Bitwise revealed that 172 firms now hold Bitcoin on their balance sheets, with 48 newly emerging in the third quarter alone.
The collective value of these corporate Bitcoin holdings rose 28% quarter-over-quarter, reaching $117 billion.
“This involvement helps legitimize crypto as a mainstream asset class and lays the groundwork for broader financial innovation, from Bitcoin-backed loans to new derivatives markets,” stated Racheel Lucas, an analyst at BTC Markets.
Strategy continues to be the largest corporate Bitcoin holder with over 640,000 BTC, although its accumulation rate has slowed recently. MARA Holdings ranks second, holding 53,250 BTC.
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Elon Musk commends Bitcoin’s energy-intensive model
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk lauded Bitcoin’s sound money principles, asserting that it provides better protection against currency debasement than fiat money, which can be produced at will.
In a post on X, Musk emphasized the energy-intensive proof-of-work system of Bitcoin, deeming it “impossible to fake energy” — a notable contrast to government-issued currencies.
Musk’s comments followed a Zerohedge post suggesting that Bitcoin’s recent surge reflects a broader “debasement trade,” as investors become more cautious about the US dollar.
Musk is familiar with Bitcoin; his electric vehicle firm, Tesla, previously added the cryptocurrency to its balance sheet. Although part of its holdings were later sold, Tesla remains the 11th-largest corporate Bitcoin holder, with 11,509 BTC, according to industry data.
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