Cryptocurrency Market Update: October 2025 Rally Ends with Tariff-Driven Selloff

In early October 2025 the crypto market began on a strong footing. Record inflows into crypto ETFs and bullish equity markets helped push prices higher. For example, Reuters reported that Bitcoin hit a new all-time high above $125,000 on Oct. 5 ^[1] – its eighth straight day of gains – as over $5.95 billion flowed into crypto ETFs in the week to Oct. 4 ^[2]. According to CoinShares, investors poured $3.55 billion into Bitcoin and $1.48 billion into Ethereum products during that period ^[3]. These inflows, along with a weaker U.S. dollar, helped lift Bitcoin’s market cap toward ~$2.48 trillion by Oct. 7 ^[4] (CoinGecko data), and pushed Ether and other assets sharply higher. In fact, Ether climbed to about $4,879 by Oct. 10 ^[5] – just above its previous record of ~$4,878 from 2021 – on the back of speculation over ETF demand and Fed monetary policy (Powell’s dovish comments also gave a late-week boost ^[6]).

Major Cryptocurrencies: Price Movements

Bitcoin (BTC): After starting October near $118,500, Bitcoin climbed to ~$125,245 on Oct. 5 ^[7] and briefly above $126,000, before reversing course. It ended up consolidating around $121–124K (CoinGecko data). By Oct. 10 Bitcoin had fallen sharply (down about 8.4%) to roughly $104,782 ^[8] as trade tensions escalated. The price then recovered modestly to ~$112K by Oct. 11.
Ethereum (ETH): Similarly, Ether surged to multi-year highs. It rose above $4,800 in early October (and had already doubled over two months), buoyed by ETF inflows, staking demand and a pro-crypto regulatory backdrop ^[9] ^[10]. By Oct. 10 ETH was trading around $4,879 ^[11]. After the sell-off on Oct. 10, it dipped into the mid-$3,600s ^[12] but managed to hold support near $3,825 according to analysts.
Solana (SOL): Solana also rallied in the first week of October. CoinShares data show Solana ETFs attracted about $706.5 million in inflows ^[13], and SOL’s price climbed to around $232.60 on Oct. 7 ^[14]. However, Solana dropped sharply after the tariff news, falling to about $175.60 by Oct. 11 ^[15], erasing much of its early-week gains.
XRP: XRP briefly traded in the high-$2s, but experienced one of the steepest declines. On Oct. 9 it was near $2.80, then plummeted about 15.5% on Oct. 10 to close around $2.36 ^[16]. That drop mirrored the broad market decline and wiped out XRP’s recent run-ups.

Tariff Announcement Triggers Market Crash

The bull run came to an abrupt halt on Oct. 10, when U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 100% tariff on Chinese exports to the U.S. and new tech export restrictions in response to China’s rare-earth export curbs ^[17]. The news “shook global financial markets,” sending stocks, commodities and crypto sharply lower. Reuters noted that by Friday evening Bitcoin “extended declines” to ~$104,782 (a drop of ~8.4%) and Ethereum to ~$3,637 (–5.8%) ^[18]. The sell-off was historic: Crypto analytics firm CoinGlass reported that more than $19 billion in leveraged crypto positions were liquidated in 24 hours, the largest such event on record ^[19]. Major indices were hit too, but the fallout was especially dramatic in crypto derivatives. As one report noted, within a single trading session global crypto market capitalization fell over 9% (erasing roughly $1 trillion) and the Fear & Greed Index plunged from 64 (“Greed”) to 27 (“Fear”) ^[20] ^[21].

Liquidations, Volume and Market Trends

The Oct. 10 crash produced staggering figures in liquidation and volume. TradingView News highlighted that roughly 1.66 million trader positions were liquidated for a reported $19.33 billion in losses ^[22]. Of that, Bitcoin long positions bore about $5.38 billion of the hit, and Ethereum longs about $4.43 billion ^[23]. Over $7 billion in margin positions blew out in the first hour of trading on Friday ^[24]. By day’s end Bitcoin had briefly fallen below $102,000 ^[25]. Trading volume spiked – for example, Bitcoin’s 24-hour volume exceeded $70 billion during the crash ^[26]. In total, Crypto market cap slid from roughly $4.2T to $3.8T in 24 hours ^[27], reflecting a rare October collapse.

Investor Sentiment and Analyst Commentary

Following the sell-off, sentiment in crypto circles flipped to extreme fear. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index’s rapid drop to 27 was among the fastest reversals seen in crypto ^[28]. Many traders and analysts drew parallels to past octobers: historically, big dips in October are rare (in over a decade only a handful were deeper) and are often followed by rebounds ^[29]. Some market veterans viewed the shakeout as a buying opportunity – for example, Blockstream co-founder Samson Mow noted there were “still 21 days left in Uptober” (a bullish allusion) ^[30]. Others sounded caution. As one strategist quipped in Bloomberg coverage, the rout was “sparked by US-China tariff fears but fueled by institutional over-leverage” ^[31]. Crypto analysts also pointed out renewed institutional interest: James Butterfill of CoinShares commented that the record ETF inflows earlier in the week underscored how digital assets are increasingly seen “as an alternative in times of uncertainty” ^[32].

September 2025 vs. Early October

For perspective, crypto’s performance in September 2025 was relatively muted compared to October’s volatility. According to a VanEck market review, most major tokens fell in September – 23 of 35 large projects ended the month lower – while Bitcoin eked out roughly a +5% gain and Ethereum slipped about –5% ^[33]. Late-September profit-taking and historical seasonality had trimmed many gains. The stark contrast is that October’s first 11 days saw a more powerful rally (pushing Bitcoin to all-time highs) followed by one of the steepest one-day sell-offs ever. How markets proceed for the rest of October will likely depend on both technical recovery patterns and geopolitical developments; analysts will be watching closely whether crypto can hold key support levels (around $110K–113K for BTC, ~$3,825 for ETH) or if further volatility lies ahead.

Sources: Price and market data are drawn from CoinGecko and Reuters; market analysis and commentary are based on reports from Reuters ^[34] ^[35], CoinDesk, CoinShares ^[36] ^[37], TradingView News ^[38] ^[39], the Economic Times ^[40], CCN ^[41], and VanEck ^[42], among others. All citations above link to the original reporting.