October 2025 is the worst ‘Uptober’ in a decade – What happened?
Key Takeaways
What triggered the sharp downturn in crypto markets throughout October’s “Uptober” rally?
The October 10 crash worn out $19 billion in leveraged positions, derailing bullish momentum.
What’s the outlook for Bitcoin heading into November?
BTC is anticipated to remain range-bound early within the month, with a possible rally to $120,000 mid-November.
October—sometimes dubbed “Uptober”—has traditionally marked a interval of main beneficial properties throughout Bitcoin [BTC] and a number of other altcoins.
The month started on a bullish word, with complete crypto market capitalization briefly reaching an all-time excessive of $4.27 trillion. Nonetheless, that momentum shortly pale.
Right here’s what triggered the downturn.
10/10 sparked concern throughout markets
The sell-off started on what’s now referred to as the ten/10 crash, resulting in one of many largest liquidation occasions in crypto historical past.
Roughly $19 billion in leveraged positions had been worn out on the tenth of October, forcing over 1.6 million merchants out of the market.
The spot market suffered much more. Information from TradingView confirmed that over $888 billion was erased from complete market capitalization.
In an electronic mail to AMBCrypto, Shawn Younger, MEXC’s Chief Analyst, stated:
“The October 10 crash that noticed over $19 billion leveraged positions liquidated additionally dealt an extra blow to the bullish momentum that was constructing out there. By the point the market stabilized, the ‘Uptober’ rally had already been structurally derailed.”
Up to now, solely $362 billion has returned, indicating that buyers stay cautious—with complete outflows standing at $526 billion.
Supply: DeFiLama
Buyers now desire to sit down on the sidelines somewhat than go all in, mirrored within the record-high stablecoin supply of $308.77 billion as of the twenty second of October.
This underscores widespread uncertainty and a wait-and-see method amongst market individuals.
Financial pressure pushes buyers towards security
World financial uncertainty has additionally weighed closely on the crypto market.
The preliminary catalyst emerged from rising tensions between the U.S. and China over export controls, which led Washington to impose a 100% tariff on all Chinese language imports.
The announcement, on the tenth of October 2025 contributed considerably to the market-wide decline.
Younger defined that even the late-month 25-basis-point price reduce did not encourage danger urge for food.
“The 25-basis-point reduce introduced in late October was additionally overshadowed by Powell’s remarks that additional price cuts had been ‘removed from assured’ regardless of saying the tip of the quantitative tightening period.”
Such developments sometimes drive buyers towards conventional safe-haven property whereas danger property like crypto endure.
This shift was evident in gold’s efficiency—its worth surged 14.72% in October to an all-time excessive of $4,381, marking its strongest month-to-month rally in a decade.
Placing “Uptober” into perspective
Between 2021 and 2025, October has typically been bullish for the crypto market.
In 2021, complete market capitalization rose 56%, reaching $3.01 trillion, its yearly peak. In 2023, an identical uptrend produced a 167.9% acquire, pushing capitalization to $2.72 trillion.
October 2024 adopted the identical sample, with market worth rising 84.73% to $3.83 trillion.
The exception was 2022, when capitalization fell 24.9%—the weakest October in 5 years.
Whereas 2025 has seen a 24.19% drop to this point, the market nonetheless recorded a brand new all-time excessive earlier within the month, exhibiting that some underlying bullish momentum persists.
Supply: TradingView
Institutional exercise has additionally remained sturdy. Web inflows point out that main buyers proceed to build up Bitcoin, in line with SoSovalue.
Up to now this month, U.S. buyers have spent $3.61 billion on BTC, the fifth-largest buy quantity in ten months. This implies continued optimism and the potential setup for a November rebound.
Trying forward, Younger expects early November to stay range-bound.
“BTC is anticipated to commerce largely within the $110,000 – $115,000 vary, with potential downward spikes in the direction of $100,000 – $103,000 if geopolitical tensions escalate, U.S information surprises to the draw back, or additional macro headwinds emerge.”
Beginning in mid-November, Bitcoin is anticipated to succeed in $120,000 as merchants start pricing within the influence of the tip of the Federal Reserve’s quantitative tightening period.
