Bitcoin 
$105,106.73below $105,000, Ethereum 
$3,731.70With the price falling below the $3,600 threshold, the cryptocurrency market lost more than 5 percent in value and fell to $3.53 trillion. The trigger for the increase in volatility was the expiry of BTC and ETH option contracts worth $ 5.72 billion on the same day. In this period when the “Uptober” narrative, which was frequently voiced for October, was shaken, investors began to weigh the possibility of a new crash.
Banking Crisis Rocked the Market
During the week, Western Alliance Bank and Zions Bank came to the fore with fake loan cases, triggering a sales wave in the US stock markets. Fall in banking stocks as concerns about credit quality increase cryptocurrency It also made investors nervous. Partial government shutdown and weak liquidity conditions in the US significantly reduced risk appetite.
Another development that shook the markets is the US President Donald Trumpannounced that a 100 percent customs duty may be imposed on all goods imported from China as of November 1. Following this threat, $500 billion was deleted from the cryptocurrency market. BinancePrice deviations in USDe, wBETH and BNSOL assets in , Wintermute’s $700 million transfer and the whale known as the “Trump insider whale” opening a short position of over $1 billion accelerated the decline in the market.
It is known that the same investor had previously sold BTC and ETH in a similar manner before Trump’s statements. This behavior brought to the agenda allegations of manipulation in the market in line with the political calendar.
Exits from ETFs and Regulatory Pressure Deepened Panic Selling
Based in the US, according to SoSoValue data spot Bitcoin ETFOn October 16, the last trading day, there was a net outflow of 536 million dollars. The outflow of $536 million was recorded as the highest daily outflow recorded since August. Also based in the USA spot Ethereum ETFThere was an outflow of 56.9 million dollars from . The negative outlook for ETFs reflects weakness in investor confidence.
Meanwhile, there are 44,000 units on the Deribit exchange. BTC and 251,000 units ETH The option contract expired today at 11:00 GMT. The fact that most of the options worth a total of 5.7 billion dollars were put-oriented reinforced the decline expectation in the market. With the options expiring, positions worth more than 1.2 billion dollars were liquidated.
On the other hand, the French regulator ACPR’s expansion of money laundering investigations in some exchanges, including Binance, increased the selling pressure in the market. While Bitcoin lost over 7 percent in value and fell to $103,978, Ethereum fell to $3,696 and XRP fell to $2.20.
