What Caused the Crypto Market Crash and What’s Next?

Key Takeaways

• The Crypto Market suffered $19 billion in liquidations on Oct. 10.
• Several large-cap altcoins fell by more than 80% before bouncing.
• Is the ongoing revival just a dead cat bounce, or will the market reverse?

The crypto market recently faced one of its most brutal weeks, with a staggering $19 billion in liquidations on October 10.

Altcoins were hit the hardest, with some plunging over 80% before showing signs of recovery.

Bitcoin (BTC) fared better but was not immune to the crash.

Since then, the crypto market has bounced. The main question is whether this is a dead cat bounce or a bullish trend reversal.

Why Did the Crypto Market Crash?

The cryptocurrency market has crashed since its all-time high on October 6, falling by 24% before reaching its low on October 10.

Luckily for the bulls, the market bounced, preventing a breakdown from the $3.65 trillion horizontal support area.

This is the most critical area for the current bull cycle. It acted as the initial resistance during the 2025 high, and the price broke out above it in July 2025.

If the crypto market crashes below it, it will confirm that the previous breakout was a deviation and that new lows are still likely.

A positive sign for the bulls is that neither the Relative Strength Index (RSI) nor the Moving Average Convergence/Divergence (MACD) has generated any bearish divergences.

However, the indicators are below their bullish thresholds, invalidating some goodwill from the lack of divergence.

The beginning of the crash (black icon) was initially gradual but accelerated when Donald Trump announced (red icon) a possible tariff increase against China.

What followed was the largest liquidation event in crypto history, triggering a 14% hourly decline.

While the decline was initially reversed, creating a long lower wick and a higher high, the crypto market is falling again, risking another breakdown.

If the crypto market confirms its close below $3.75 trillion, it will resume its crash and possibly refill the wick lows.

Hence, while the Trump-China tariffs exacerbated the decline, they are likely not the main reason crypto crashed, and the trend could continue in the future.

Bitcoin’s Milder Crash

Bitcoin’s crash has been milder than the rest of the crypto market.

From top to bottom, the BTC price fell by 19%, while it is currently only 11% below its all-time high price.

Unlike the crypto market crash, Bitcoin’s crash was contained within an ascending parallel channel. 

While the channel is a bearish pattern, the bounce at the support (green icon) bodes well for the possibility of a trend reversal.

Nevertheless, the price of Bitcoin has to move above the channel’s midline to confirm its trend reversal.

Like the previous charts, the RSI and MACD did not generate bearish divergences, but they are currently below their bearish thresholds.

If Bitcoin breaks down instead, it could deepen its crash toward the next closest support at $94,267.

Biggest Altcoin Losers

Since numerous altcoins have bounced back after their lows, their performance is not as bad when considering their current prices.

However, a few altcoins crashed massively during the Oct. 10 liquidation event.

For example, Cosmos (ATOM) crashed by 99.97% in one hourly candlestick, falling to a low of $0.01 before bouncing to $3.37, where it currently trades.

The massive decline and subsequent rebound have led many to suspect market manipulation by various market makers.

Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that not all Centralized Exchanges (CEXs) behaved the same way, as the bottoms on Coinbase were much milder compared to those on Binance or OKX.

Nevertheless, the outlook for altcoins excluding Ethereum (ETH) does not look promising. 

The altcoin market cap broke down from an ascending wedge yesterday and validated it as resistance (red icon). 

If this is the case, altcoins have just started their crash and will eventually decline to their April levels, since the entire bullish structure is now invalid.

Difficult End to 2025

While Bitcoin’s resilience offers a glimmer of hope, the broader market structure suggests the worst is yet to come.

Altcoins continue to flash weakness, and the threat of another breakdown looms unless a decisive reclaim occurs.

Until then, the market’s revival remains fragile and vulnerable to another steep correction.

Disclaimer:
The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be, nor should it be construed as, financial advice. We do not make any warranties regarding the completeness, reliability, or accuracy of this information. All investments involve risk, and past performance does not guarantee future results. We recommend consulting a financial advisor before making any investment decisions.