The cryptocurrency market experienced substantial losses in October, with total market capitalization falling from $2.94 trillion on October 1 to $2.58 trillion on October 31, representing a decline of approximately $360 billion or 12.2%.
Bitcoin Pressure and ETF Flows
Bitcoin declined from $87,220 on October 1 to $77,300 on October 31, marking an 11.37% loss. This represents Bitcoin's second consecutive October decline, following a 3.9% drop in October 2025. The back-to-back losses are notable, as the last time Bitcoin experienced consecutive October losses was in 2011 and 2012. Historically, October has been a strong month for Bitcoin, with an average return of around 12.9% and positive closes in approximately 69% of recorded years.
Spot Bitcoin ETF activity reflected mixed sentiment. Strong net inflows of $526.7 million occurred on October 19 and $524.8 million on October 21, indicating continued institutional demand. However, this trend reversed on October 30, when U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $643.2 million in net outflows, representing the largest daily outflow in the preceding four months.
Altcoin Losses Lead the Decline
Major altcoins experienced sharper declines than Bitcoin. Ethereum fell 21.71%, dropping from $2,773 to $2,171. Solana recorded the largest loss among major assets, declining 25.81% from $124 to $92. XRP also fell 16.96%, moving from $1.445 to $1.20. The steeper altcoin losses suggest these assets faced greater selling pressure during the month.
Liquidations and Market Stress
As prices declined, leveraged traders faced mounting pressure. On October 30, crypto liquidations reached $1.54 billion over 24 hours, with long positions accounting for $1.29 billion of that total. The market also faced uncertainty following a Binance security incident with an estimated $6.3 billion impact.
