One year after the crypto market's largest liquidation event, liquidity conditions have diverged sharply across asset classes. Bitcoin and ether have rebuilt deeper order books than existed before the crash, while altcoins have continued to lose liquidity and spot trading volume has not recovered.
On October 10, 2025, bitcoin fell from near $122,600 to below $105,000 in minutes during thin Friday evening trade following an announcement of tariffs on Chinese imports. The decline triggered more than $19 billion in leveraged position liquidations in a single day.
Bitcoin and Ether Strengthen
Bitcoin's order book depth within 1% of the current price reached approximately $11.7 million on October 7, 2026—roughly 75% more than on crash day and up from about $6.9 million at the start of 2025. This improvement reflects increased capital commitment by market makers rather than a price effect, as bitcoin is about one-third cheaper than before the crash.
Ether's recovery has been stronger in relative terms. Depth within 0.5% of the price has more than doubled since the crash day to about $4.2 million, and at 1% has risen by approximately three-quarters to roughly $5.3 million.
Both major assets faced an early test this week as markets sold off. Bitcoin's 1% depth fell about 12% between October 7 and 8, while ether's tightest band thinned slightly.
Altcoins Continue to Lose Ground
Altcoin liquidity has moved in the opposite direction. Dollar depth at 5% from the price has fallen approximately one-third since the start of 2025 to around $2 million. While token-unit measurements show more modest declines, this improvement reflects falling prices rather than increased capital commitment to altcoin trading.
Spot Trading Below Peak Levels
Weekly spot trading volume on centralized exchanges averaged around $279 billion over the four weeks to September 27, 2026—nearly two-thirds below the $801 billion traded in the week of the crash. Volume bottomed in August at approximately $135 billion and has roughly doubled since, but remains well short of crash-week levels.
