The cryptocurrency market took a sharp hit on 7 October 2025, wiping out approximately $60 billion in value in just one hour, according to data gathered by research firm Finbold from CoinMarketCap.
A sudden shift
At around 15:00 UTC the total value of all crypto assets stood near $4.30 trillion. By 16:00 UTC it had dropped to about $4.24 trillion. The leading digital currency, Bitcoin, which had peaked near $126,000 earlier in the session, slipped to around $122,997, losing roughly $40 billion in its market capitalisation.
Other major assets did not fare any better—Ethereum, Solana and XRP registered sharp intraday losses, while only BNB managed to climb about 7 % in the same period.
What’s behind the drop?
Much of the tumbling prices appear linked to profit-taking after a strong rally and concerns over how tapped the market had become. Traders had pushed Bitcoin almost 20 % higher since late September, and experts observe this could have set the stage for a reversal once resistance was hit.
In a recent breakdown of the event, research platform Amberdata described the turbulence as “the largest single-day liquidation event in crypto history”. They estimate billions of dollars of leveraged long positions were wiped out during the plunge though their focus was on a slightly later event dated 10 October, not the one on 7th.
Technical watchers sounded alarm
Technical observers noted that a failure by Bitcoin to close below the previous day’s low near $121,000 could open the door to deeper losses towards $117,000, where on-chain data shows roughly 190,000 BTC previously changed hands, representing a support cluster.
Meanwhile, derivatives markets told a mixed story: open interest across major futures exchanges declined only modestly week-on-week (about 4.36 %) and ETF inflows into U.S. spot products remained strong (over $1.2 billion added on 6 October).
A broader context
The sharp drop must be considered alongside larger-scale movements. Just days later, on 10–11 October, the market faced a far bigger wipe-out, reports suggest more than $19 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated following a sudden escalation in U.S.–China trade tensions.
Also, in the week leading up to 7 October, crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw record capital inflows almost $6 billion globally demonstrating that institutional interest remained quite strong even in the face of mounting volatility.
What this means going forward
For investors and observers, the message is mixed. On one hand, the rapid drop is unsettling, it exposes vulnerabilities in a market where large rallies can reverse quickly when sentiment shifts. On the other hand, the fact that derivatives open interest held up and ETFs still attracted money suggests that for some participants this may be more a consolidation than a full-scale collapse.
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