- Bitcoin fell below $104,000 as the cryptocurrency sell-off deepened.
- $1 billion in crypto liquidations hit traders within 24 hours.
- Winners and losers: Aave, Flare, BCH plunged; Jito jumps on a16z investment.
The cryptocurrency market extended a volatile week with a broad sell-off that erased earlier gains, as Bitcoin slipped to under $104,000.
Global crypto market capitalization fell more than 3% to about $3.5 trillion before a modest rebound, with Bitcoin clawing back toward $107,000.
CoinGlass data showed that global crypto liquidations surged to over $1.04 billion within 24 hours, with long positions taking the brunt of the pain.
Open interest dropped 3.8% to $150 billion as Ethereum, XRP, Solana and BNB retested — and in some cases slipped below — key technical levels.
Bitcoin drops to $103,598
Bitcoin led Friday’s sharp market decline on October 17, 2025. While the move was not as devastating as the October 10 liquidation event, the dip to roughly $103,500 marked another significant bout of volatility for BTC.
The benchmark digital asset had partially recovered to around $106,600 at the time of writing.
Still, the pullback renewed concerns for a market that had already experienced a historic $19 billion liquidation event earlier in the week.
Notably, Bitcoin’s slide coincided with investor anxiety on Wall Street following reports of bad loans at two U.S. regional banks.
The shaken market moved lower, and BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes shared his view on what could follow.
$BTC on sale. If this US regional banking wobble grows to a crisis be ready for a 2023-like bailout. And then go shopping assuming you have spare capital. I got my list, what’s on yours fam? pic.twitter.com/TbuQQI3njN
— Arthur Hayes (@CryptoHayes) October 17, 2025
ETH, XRP, SOL and BNB reflect Bitcoin’s pain
Bitcoin grabbed headlines with an intraday range between $109,260 and $103,598. However, the weakness was widespread: Ethereum, XRP, Solana and BNB all gave back a substantial portion of recent gains.
In particular, pressure on Bitcoin, combined with heavy ETF outflows, pushed Ether below $3,680.
That extended a move below the key $4,000 support level, although bulls were hovering around $3,800 at the time of writing.
Crypto analyst Lark Davis noted that Ethereum was testing a decisive technical zone.
Ethereum pulling back into a key zone here.
Price is testing the weekly 20 EMA — lined up perfectly with horizontal support and the 0.382 Fib.
Either this area holds and sends it back up, or we start eyeing the next leg lower toward the 0.618.
Decision time for $ETH. pic.twitter.com/JtdsBXsUNC
— Lark Davis (@TheCryptoLark) October 17, 2025
Elsewhere, XRP fell more than 4% to a low near $2.20, breaking well below key support at $2.50 and the psychologically important $3.00 level.
However, recent moves such as Ripple treasury’s GTreasury acquisition and reports of a $1 billion raise for XRP could provide bullish catalysts if they materialize.
Solana traded around $182 but dropped nearly 5%, touching a low near $174 and fueling fresh bearish momentum below the critical $200 mark.
BNB, which had been one of the best-performing large-cap tokens in recent months, also saw profit-taking push it down to about $1,024. BNB hit an all-time high of $1,370 on October 13.
Aave, Flare, Bitcoin Cash among the biggest losers
As major altcoins mirrored BTC’s pullback and Wall Street losses acted as a catalyst, Aave, Aster, Flare and Bitcoin Cash were among the day’s heaviest losers.
Notably, AAVE plunged about 13%, ASTER fell roughly 10%, FLR declined 9.7%, and BCH traded down about 8%, making them some of the worst performers among the top 100 coins by market cap.
Earlier the same day, Zcash dropped below $190 amid a 20% decline before a small rebound pushed ZEC above $216; the privacy coin was still down roughly 7% over the prior 24 hours.
On the upside, Ethena, ZORA and Jito were among the top gainers, with Jito benefiting from optimistic news about a16z’s $50 million investment in the Solana staking protocol.