- Bitcoin slides below $104,000 as crypto sell-off intensifies.
- $1 billion in crypto liquidations hit traders within 24 hours.
- Aave, Flare, BCH among biggest losers; Jito benefits from a16z investment.
The cryptocurrency markets continued a turbulent week as broad selling wiped out recent gains, pushing Bitcoin down to under $104,000 in a sharp intraday decline.
At the same time, the global cryptocurrency market capitalization fell more than 3% to about $3.5 trillion before Bitcoin recovered slightly, trading back near $107,000.
Data from CoinGlass showed global crypto liquidations surged to more than $1.04 billion in a 24-hour period, with long positions suffering the heaviest losses.
Open interest dropped 3.8% to $150 billion as Ethereum, XRP, Solana and BNB were retested and in some cases fell below key support levels.
Bitcoin tumbles to $103,598
Bitcoin led a steep market sell-off on Friday, October 17, 2025. Although the decline was not as extreme as the liquidation seen on October 10, the dip to a low of $103,598 marked a second major swing for BTC.
The digital benchmark had partially recovered to about $106,600 at the time of writing.
The crash revived fresh fears across markets that had already experienced a historic $19 billion liquidation event the previous week.
Bitcoin’s drop coincided with investor jitters on Wall Street after troubling lending news from two U.S. regional banks. Markets reacted by selling off, and BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes shared his view on the situation.
$BTC is 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 BTC weakness
Bitcoin’s sharp drop made headlines, with an intraday range between $109,260 and $103,598. The weakness was broad-based: Ethereum, XRP, Solana and BNB all surrendered significant portions of recent gains.
Pressure on Bitcoin, combined with substantial ETF outflows, pushed Ether below $3,680, extending its pullback beneath the key $4,000 support level. Bulls were hovering near $3,800 at the time of reporting.
Crypto analyst Lark Davis noted that Ethereum was testing a make-or-break area.
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 slid more than 4% to a low near $2.20, drifting further from the $2.50 support level and the psychologically important $3.00 mark. Ripple’s acquisition of treasury firm GTreasury and reported $1 billion funding for XRP have been cited as potential catalysts for renewed optimism.
Solana, trading around $182 earlier in the session, fell nearly 5% to a low near $174, adding to downside momentum below the critical $200 level.
BNB, one of the best performers in recent months, experienced profit-taking and dropped to an intraday low of $1,024. BNB reached an all-time high of $1,370 on October 13.
Aave, Flare, Bitcoin Cash among top losers
As major altcoins mirrored Bitcoin’s downturn and Wall Street losses amplified the selling, Aave, Aster, Flare and Bitcoin Cash became some of the day’s biggest decliners.
Specifically, AAVE fell about 13%, ASTER declined roughly 10%, FLR dropped 9.7%, and BCH traded down around 8%, making them notable underperformers among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap.
Earlier in the day, Zcash plunged more than 20% to below $190 before a small rebound pushed ZEC back above $216; the privacy coin was down about 7% over the prior 24 hours.
On the winners’ side, projects such as Ethena, ZORA and Jito were among the top gainers. Jito benefited from news of a16z’s reported $50 million investment into the Solana staking and performance protocol, boosting interest in the token.