This morning, the crypto market was hit by a major storm. Several altcoins plunged more than 90%, with IOTX briefly touching $0 before partially recovering.

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes, through his X (Twitter) account, pointed out that this extreme drop was likely triggered by automatic liquidations from centralized exchanges (CEXs) managing cross-margin positions. He added that although many high-quality altcoins crashed temporarily, it’s unlikely their prices will revisit those lows anytime soon.

Coinglass Data: Highest Liquidation of 2025

According to Coinglass data, total liquidations over the past 24 hours reached $706.2 million, with long positionsaccounting for $648.5 million, marking the largest long liquidation of the year.
Cumulatively across the market, total liquidation value even hit $19.134 billion, with $16.679 billion coming from long positions.

Meanwhile, Hyperliquid, one of the leading derivatives platforms, recorded $10.28 billion in liquidationsc including $9.3 billion from longs.
Ironically, HLP Vault made massive profits, jumping from $80 million to over $120 million within 24 hours, a $40 million gain in a single day.

Bitcoin & Ethereum Dragged Down

Bitcoin (BTC) briefly dropped to $101,516.5 before rebounding to $110,563.5, down 7.03% in one day.

Ethereum (ETH) plunged to $3,400.00 before recovering to $3,722.30, marking a 9.11% decline.

These two major assets serve as a clear signal that market sentiment is extremely fragile, with high volatility making both retail and institutional investors cautious.

Macro Trigger: U.S.–China Trade War Heats Up Again

This market panic isn’t driven by internal factors alone.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced that China will impose large-scale export controls starting November 1, 2025, on nearly all products. In response, Trump stated that the U.S. will impose 100% tariffs on Chinese goods and restrict exports of critical software to China.

This move marks a new escalation in the U.S.–China trade war, immediately shaking global stock and commodity markets, and now spilling over into crypto.
China has yet to issue an official response, increasing global uncertainty and prompting crypto investors to close high-risk positions, leading to a wave of mass liquidations across the ecosystem.

Will There Be Another “Crypto Dump”?

History shows that major geopolitical tensions often trigger sharp declines in risk assets, including cryptocurrencies.
However, some analysts believe this could serve as a “healthy reset” before the market rebounds, especially if macro conditions stabilize in the coming weeks.

Arthur Hayes himself emphasized that high-quality altcoins are unlikely to revisit such extreme lows anytime soon, suggesting a potential consolidation phase before a new trend emerges.

Conclusion

The combination of massive liquidations, macroeconomic pressure, and the U.S.- China trade conflict has created the perfect storm for today’s crypto market.
However, for long-term investors, this turmoil could also represent a prime accumulation opportunity, particularly for projects with strong fundamentals.