Binance said the October 10 crypto flash crash was triggered by a macro risk-off move colliding with record leverage and vanishing order-book liquidity — not a system failure.
With Bitcoin and Ether heavily positioned after months of gains, over $100B in open interest fueled forced liquidations as prices fell. Market makers pulled exposure, bid-side depth disappeared, and small liquidations caused sharp drops.
The selloff mirrored global markets, where U.S. equities lost $1.5T in a single day. Blockchain congestion and delayed arbitrage worsened price gaps.
Binance acknowledged two brief platform issues but said 75% of liquidations occurred before them. The exchange compensated users with $328M and implemented system upgrades.
BTC
77,665.28
-0.39%
ETH
2,340.79
-2.92%
XRP
1.6068
+1.03%