It has been exactly one year since the October 10, 2025, flash crash—the single biggest liquidation event in crypto history. Real talk, the market plumbing looks completely different today. While bitcoin and ether have essentially healed, the rest of the market is lowkey lagging.## The Crash in Retrospect Rewind to last year: Bitcoin had just hit a record high over $126,000. Then, after President Donald Trump announced 100% tariffs on Chinese imports, the market absolutely ate it. In just minutes, over $19 billion in leveraged positions got wiped out as prices cratered below $105,000. It was pure chaos.
The Recovery: Majors vs. Alts
CoinDesk Research crunched the data on market depth—essentially how much liquidity is waiting on the sidelines to absorb big trades.
Bitcoin’s order books are currently deeper than they were even before the crash. As of October 7, we’re looking at about $11.7 million sitting within 1% of the price—a 75% increase from the day of the crash. Ether is doing even better, with liquidity within 0.5% of the price more than doubling since that dark day.
But don't let the numbers trick you; for altcoins, the vibes are off. Their liquidity has been trending down consistently since January 2025. While it might look like they have more tokens available, that’s just because prices have dropped. The actual capital committed to these smaller projects is eroding.
Spot Trading Reality Check
Even with the majors recovering, spot trading volume across centralized exchanges is still struggling. Weekly volume is hovering around $279 billion, which is nearly two-thirds lower than the $801 billion we saw during the week of the crash. It’s definitely doubled since the August lows, but we are nowhere near peak levels.
Why it matters
According to Joshua de Vos, research lead at CoinDesk, the capital has clearly rotated into the majors. Institutional interest is sticking to bitcoin and ether, and that divergence is likely to stick around for a while. If you’re playing with smaller altcoins, stay woke—the liquidity just isn’t there like it used to be. As always, none of this is financial advice; stay safe with those bags.
