In 24 hours, 20 billion dollars of positions were liquidated, an absolute record. Triggered by US tariffs on China, this crash on October 10-11, 2025 revealed the flaws of crypto exchanges like Binance, Bybit and Hyperliquid. Traders denounce technical malfunctions and call for urgent regulation.
The October 2025 crypto crash will certainly go down in history. Indeed, between the 10th and 11th, many exchanges suffered billions of dollars in capitalization losses. Notably:
These figures exceed those of the FTX crisis or the 2020 crash. The trigger? Donald Trump’s announcement of a 100% increase in tariffs on China, which created chaos.
To make matters worse, an explosive mix hit the crypto market: ultra-leveraged positions (up to 100x), token depegs like USDe and WBETH, and extreme volatility. Traders, trapped, saw their accounts evaporate in a few hours! Some exchanges even temporarily froze withdrawals on their platform.
Binance, Bybit and Hyperliquid are accused of worsening the crisis through technical malfunctions. Many testimonies abound: unexecuted orders, frozen interfaces, prices detached from the market. Kris Marszalek, CEO of Crypto.com, demanded an investigation into their management of the crash, highlighting potentially misleading practices.
Hyperliquid, less known but leader in liquidations, is particularly scrutinized. Binance, despite its giant status, did not escape criticism, notably after the depegs of tokens on its crypto platform.
On October 12, 2025, Binance announced paying 283 million dollars in compensation to crypto users affected by the depegs of three major assets: USDe (Ethena), BNSOL (Binance Solana) and WBETH (Wrapped Beacon ETH). This compensation was distributed in two waves to traders impacted between 21:36 and 22:16 UTC on October 10, as well as to those who suffered losses during internal transfers or redemptions via Binance Earn.
According to Binance, the depegs — such as the drop of USDe to $0.66 — occurred after the crash, not before, ruling out rumors of a targeted attack. However, the crypto exchange admitted major technical flaws:
To prevent new incidents, Binance has promised:
The massive liquidations of October 2025 highlighted a key issue: should crypto exchanges just compensate after crises, or do they have the obligation to prevent them? Binance, by reimbursing 283 million dollars, set an example, but this compensation must not mask the technical and organizational failures at the origin of the problem. Especially since bitcoin and ethereum suffered colossal losses, while more than 1.6 million traders were affected, some losing millions within minutes.
Platforms thus have a dual responsibility: securing users’ funds and ensuring market stability. This involves:
Regulators, such as the SEC in the United States or the AMF in Europe, will have to impose strict rules to avoid repeated scandals. Investor confidence will now depend on the ability of crypto exchanges to combine innovation and protection, otherwise new crises could arise.
This crash marks a turning point for the crypto industry. Exchanges, once untouchable, are now under pressure. Calls for regulation grow louder, but answers are slow. Trust, once lost, is hard to rebuild. If authorities don’t respond quickly, traders might turn to more transparent alternatives… or leave the market. One question remains: can centralized exchanges still be trusted after such a fiasco?
