Bitcoin pricewhich had been steadily rising towards fresh all-time highs, suddenly dropped on October 10, dragging the Ethereum price and the rest of the market with it. According to the latest Binance Research’s monthly market analysis shows that the crash was not caused by delicate cryptocurrency fundamentals or a loss of investor interest, but by the sudden exodus of excessively risky positions following geopolitical shocks and macroeconomic uncertainty.
Why Bitcoin and Ethereum prices have fallen
Binance Research reports that the crash occurred on October 10, when investors sold over $19 billion in high-risk positions, marking one of the most significant single-day sell-offs in recent cryptocurrency history. The decline began shortly after US President Trump announced his decision fresh tariffs on Chinawhich caused trade tensions and threw risk markets into chaos.
Bitcoin’s intraday price swings have reached occasional levels, with a Z-score of 3.08, meaning such extreme moves statistically only occur once every 1,000 days. Binance Research notes that a sudden sell-off in high-risk positions caused Bitcoin to decline by approximately 4%, while Ethereum fell by 8.6%, marking the first negative decline in the market October from 2018
The macro environment has intensified the sell-off. The U.S. government shutdown and Federal Reserve rate cut in early October, when the Fed cut interest rates by 25 basis points but signaled a possible pause in further cuts, already shaken investor confidence.
With the flow of economic data disrupted and interest rate policy uncertain, investors sought safety and exited risky positions. Binance notes that overall cryptocurrency market capitalization fell by 6.1%, indicating a coordinated situation withdrawal from high-risk exposures.
Will history repeat itself?
Despite the keen declinethe market quickly recovered. According to Binance Research, total borrowing and high-risk positions, which briefly dipped below 5%, rebounded to 5.77% by October 31, representing a 10% recovery and suggesting investors remain confident in taking risks.
Bitcoin’s market share rose to 59.4%, indicating that investors were turning to safer options during market turmoil. Meanwhile, Ethereum continued this activity attract institutional buyerswith treasury holdings reaching 5% of total ETH supply, demonstrating sustained confidence in its ability to generate returns.
The Binance BVoL Index it tracks expected price fluctuations in crypto options, peaked at 52, well below this year’s high of 88 in March, indicating that investors did not expect a long-term collapse in Bitcoin and Ethereum prices.
The analysis shows that the October 10 crash acted as a reset of risky positions rather than a reversal of the price trend. Bitcoin and Ethereum Price Rebound Underlines Market Resilience; however, the return of high-risk positions means another keen correction could occur if fresh macroeconomic shocks emerge, causing prices to remain prone to sudden fluctuations.
Featured image from Dall.E, chart from TradingView.com
