By Francisco Rodrigues (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)
The cryptocurrency market demonstrated a tentative rebound following a drastic flash crash on Friday, which wiped out over $500 billion in value and triggered nearly $20 billion in liquidations on derivatives platforms.
Bitcoin plummeted by up to 13% within an hour, hitting a low around $102,000 before recovering to trade above $111,800. The broader market, represented by the CoinDesk 20 (CD20) Index, increased by 11.8% from its lowest point this week, although it dropped by 3.5% in the last 24 hours to 3,727 points, underperforming BTC, which declined by 2.8% in the same timeframe.
Crypto market maker Wintermute mentioned that the sell-off occurred in a highly synchronized wave that pushed perpetual contract trading platforms to their limits.
“Rapid price fluctuations led to a swift disappearance of liquidity from the larger market,” Wintermute noted. “As prices began to recover from the drop, liquidity returned quickly.”
Sam MacPherson, CEO of Phoenix Labs and a key contributor to the Spark protocol, informed CoinDesk that the volatility “provided a real-time stress test for DeFi’s foundational infrastructure.” He also stated that “Blue chip collateral played a crucial role here, functioning as a stabilizing foundation through the market turbulence.”
Amid the turmoil, indications suggest sustained institutional trust. Citi reportedly plans to unveil crypto custody services in 2026, reflecting a broader initiative by Wall Street to provide regulated digital asset offerings. Concurrently, investment bank China Renaissance is raising $600 million to establish a BNB-focused investment vehicle in collaboration with YZi Labs.
Fund flows also show resilience. Crypto investment products recorded over $3.1 billion in net inflows last week, according to CoinShares. Spot bitcoin ETFs experienced $326 million in outflows yesterday, indicating some investor anxiety.
With the U.S. government shutdown continuing, macroeconomic factors are unlikely to significantly impact the market for now. Fed Chair Powell is scheduled to speak later today, and traders will be watching closely for insights into the central bank’s stance on tariffs.
The focus will remain on how China reacts to Trump’s imposed tariffs. Stay vigilant!
What to Watch
For a deeper look at this week’s events, check out CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead”.
- Crypto
- Macro
- Oct. 14, 12:20 p.m.: Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks at the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) annual meeting in Philadelphia, Pa.
- Earnings (Estimates derived from FactSet data)
Token Events
For an extensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead”.
- Governance votes & calls
- The Sandbox DAO is voting to enable estate sales by allowing LAND owners to bundle and sell multiple parcels through the GBM x Sandbox marketplace. Voting ends Oct. 15.
- Unlocks
- Token Launches
- Oct. 14: SANDchain, a zk-powered Ethereum layer-2, launches.
Conferences
For a thorough list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead”.
Token Talk
By Oliver Knight
- Plasma dipped another 13.5% on Tuesday, accumulating a 52% decline since its launch in late September.
- The stablecoin-centric layer-1 blockchain faces doubts about its tokenomics and substantial “ecosystem & growth” allocations.
- Its circulating supply stands at 1.8 billion against a total of 10 billion, suggesting years of potential sell pressure as vested tokens become available.
- Tokens were sold in the public round at $0.05 each, keeping ICO investors comfortably in profit at current prices around $0.41.
- Investors who bought post-exchange listings are facing significant losses amidst weak market sentiment.
- Analysts anticipate sustained downward pressure once earlier investor tokens are fully liquid, ICOdrops reveals a major unlocking will take place in Q2 of 2026.
Derivatives Positioning
- The BTC futures market seems to be stabilizing following its recent fluctuations. Open interest has remained around $25.5 billion, with no major changes from yesterday after the weekend’s significant decline. The 3-month annualized basis is now trading within a lower range of 5-6%, a decrease from its previous rebound, indicating a slight cooling of bullish sentiment. There remains a key divergence in funding rates, with Bybit’s rate turning negative at -5%, while Hyperliquid’s stays positive at 10%. This suggests a mixed and intricate market sentiment, with strong but isolated long and short convictions across various platforms.
- The BTC options market is exhibiting a notable bullish acceleration. The 24-hour Put/Call Volume is currently approximately balanced at a 50-50 split, a shift from being predominantly call-driven, while the 1-week 25 Delta Skew has surged dramatically to 12.62%. This high positive skew indicates a significant premium for call options over puts, reflecting that traders are aggressively positioning for upward price movement and are willing to pay a premium for bullish exposure.
- Coinglass data highlights $627 million in liquidations over 24 hours, with a 70-30 split between longs and shorts. ETH ($185 million), BTC ($125 million), and Others ($69 million) were the most notable in terms of notional liquidations. The Binance liquidation heatmap indicates $110,600 as a critical liquidation level to watch for potential price declines.
Market Movements
- BTC is down 3.86% from 4 p.m. ET Monday at $111,363.19 (24hrs: -3.22%)
- ETH is down 7.01% at $3,991.50 (24hrs: -4.3%)
- CoinDesk 20 is down 6.02% at 3,712.40 (24hrs: -3.74%)
- Ether CESR Composite Staking Rate decreased by 1 basis point to 2.91%
- BTC funding rate stands at 0.0008% (0.8924% annualized) on Binance
- DXY is up 0.17% at 99.43
- Gold futures are 0.14% higher at $4,138.90
- Silver futures are up 0.14% at $50.50
- Nikkei 225 closed down 2.58% at 46,847.32
- Hang Seng closed down 1.68% at 25,455.05
- FTSE is down 0.32% at 9,412.64
- Euro Stoxx 50 is down 1.02% at 5,511.68
- DJIA closed up 1.29% on Monday at 46,067.58
- S&P 500 closed up 1.56% at 6,654.72
- Nasdaq Composite closed up 2.21% at 22,694.61
- S&P/TSX Composite closed down 1.38% at 29,850.89
- S&P 40 Latin America closed up 1.72% at 2,833.94
- U.S. 10-Year Treasury rate is down by 3 basis points at 4.021%
- E-mini S&P 500 futures are down 0.91% at 6,633.75
- E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures are down 1.14% at 24,638.75
- E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average Index decreased by 0.57% at 46,032.00
Bitcoin Stats
- BTC Dominance: 59.52% (0.86%)
- Ether to bitcoin ratio: 0.03572 (-3.07%)
- Hashrate (seven-day moving average): 1,052 EH/s
- Hashprice (spot): $46.91
- Total Fees: 2.87 BTC / $330,491
- CME Futures Open Interest: 140,690 BTC
- BTC priced in gold: 26.9 oz
- BTC vs gold market cap: 7.59%
Technical Analysis
- TAO has emerged as one of the leading assets over the past week, with prices bouncing back to pre-October 10 levels.
- The asset has successfully reclaimed the 50-week EMA and broken its daily downtrend, closing at $447 yesterday. However, this price point closely aligns with the yearly open, currently acting as short-term resistance.
- For bullish continuation, traders will need to see a weekly close above $390 and for prices to sustain support above the 50-week EMA, confirming a shift in trend strength.
Crypto Equities
- Coinbase Global (COIN): closed on Monday at $356.99 (-0.01%), -3.83% at $343.31 in pre-market
- Circle Internet (CRCL): closed at $137.47 (+3.41%), -3.09% at $133.22
- Galaxy Digital (GLXY): closed at $41.23 (+4.7%), -4.22% at $39.49
- Bullish (BLSH): closed at $59.55 (-1.42%), -4.2% at $57.05
- MARA Holdings (MARA): closed at $20.24 (+8.53%), -3.95% at $19.44
- Riot Platforms (RIOT): closed at $21.70 (+3.28%), -4.52% at $20.72
- Core Scientific (CORZ): closed at $19.21 (+3.73%), -2.6% at $18.71
- CleanSpark (CLSK): closed at $20.04 (+3.94%), -5.09% at $19.02
- CoinShares Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI): closed at $60.86 (+9.97%), -1.61% at $59.88
- Exodus Movement (EXOD): closed at $28.64 (+0.49%), -0.14% at $28.60
Crypto Treasury Companies
- Strategy (MSTR): closed at $315.47 (+3.5%), -3.96% at $302.98
- Semler Scientific (SMLR): closed at $26.33 (-1.75%), -1.71% at $25.88
- SharpLink Gaming (SBET): closed at $16.13 (+5.32%), -6.08% at $15.15
- Upexi (UPXI): closed at $6.48 (+2.05%), -6.64% at $6.05
- Lite Strategy (LITS): closed at $2.15 (-12.96%), -2.33% at $2.10
ETF Flows
Spot BTC ETFs
- Daily net flow: -$326.4 million
- Cumulative net flows: $62.4 billion
- Total BTC holdings ~ 1.36 million
Spot ETH ETFs
- Daily net flow: -$428.5 million
- Cumulative net flows: $14.49 billion
- Total ETH holdings ~ 6.84 million
Source: Farside Investors
