Bitcoin Price Tanks 10% as Crypto Faces Largest-Ever Liquidation Event

• Today’s sell-off in Bitcoin price triggered the largest liquidation event in crypto history, as 1,618,240 traders were kicked out, with a total liquidation amount of $19.13 billion.
• The rising channel pattern maintains the mid-term uptrend in Bitcoin’s price.
• BTC’s Fear and Greed Index experienced a sharp drop of 27%, reflecting a cautious or bearish shift in market sentiment.

On Friday, the crypto market went from Uptober to Dumptober sentiment in just the last few hours. Today, the Bitcoin price witnessed a sharp sell-off of over 10% to hit the $109,683 mark, triggering the largest liquidation event in crypto history. The selling pressure was initiated with the renewed trade tension between the U.S. and China, which led to a cascading liquidation across a majority of major digital currencies. Is this the start of a profound market correction or a simple retest before the next leap?

BTC Sinks Over 10% as U.S.-China Tensions Ignite Global Crypto Sell-Off

On October 10th, the crypto market witnessed a massive sell-off. The Bitcoin price plunged over 10% to hit $109,683 before reverting to its current trading price of $112,600. Consequently, BTC’s market capitalization plunged to $2.24 trillion. 

The downturn came after a rise in geopolitical friction between the United States and China. U.S. President Donald Trump announced that his administration would put 100% tariffs on Chinese imports as well as export restrictions on critical software. 

The move followed a statement circulated to global partners by China, which announced its intention to implement comprehensive export controls on almost all outbound goods starting November 1. These announcements in parallel led to a sudden trend of risk aversion, which put pressure on both traditional and digital asset markets.

As prices slid, a chain reaction of forced liquidations travelled through crypto derivatives platforms. Data shared by analytics site Coinglass showed a historic scale of liquidation activity, with more than 1.6 million traders affected, with positions worth some $19 billion wiped out in 24 hours. Observers have reported that Binance’s numbers may understate the total, as the exchange only records one liquidation order every second.

Market analyst Julio C. Moreno said he noted the magnitude of price dislocations in different exchanges. He pointed out that the price of Bitcoin on HTX briefly slipped below $102,000, and Coinbase had quite a high trading premium.

Derivatives markets showed clear signs of contraction after the turmoil. Bitcoin futures open interest fell by about 22% in the course of a day to just shy of $70.5 billion. The combination of geopolitical shocks, mass liquidations, and thinning liquidity put digital asset prices under acute pressure throughout the trading day.

Bitcoin Price Tests Major Channel Support

Since last week, the Bitcoin price has shown a brief correction from the new high of $126,272 to the current trading price of $112,065, registering a 10.8% loss. A notable contributor to this decline was recorded on Friday as the price plunged over 10% and hit a temporary low of $109,683.

Following this sell-off, the Bitcoin price is now plunged to the bottom support of a rising channel pattern in the daily chart. Since late April 2025, the coin price has traveled a steady uptrend, resonating within the two parallel trendlines of the channel.

BTC’s past performance within this pattern shows a retest that shows that a price-adjusted bottom runner has often reincorporated the exhausted bullish momentum and bolstered a bullish rebound with a range of 16-25%.

Thus, despite the massive sell-off today, if the buyers manage to defend the bottom trendline, the BTC price could drive the next recovery leap within the channel and chase the overhead from around the $135,000 mark. 

On the contrary, if the price breaks below the channel support with a daily candle closing, the market selling pressure will accelerate and drive a prolonged correction towards the $100K psychological level.

Also Read: Solana Active Addresses Plunge 60% — Could a Price Correction Be Next?