- Bitcoin falls below $104,000 as cryptocurrency sell-off deepens.
- $1 billion in crypto liquidations hit traders within 24 hours.
- Aave, Flare, BCH plunge; Jito rises on a16z investment news.
The cryptocurrency market extended a volatile week with a broad sell-off that erased earlier gains, driven by Bitcoin slipping below $104,000.
Global crypto market capitalization dropped more than 3% to $3.5 trillion before a slight rebound, as Bitcoin recovered to about $107,000.
CoinGlass data showed global crypto liquidations surged past $1.04 billion over a 24-hour period.
Open interest fell 3.8% to $150 billion as Ethereum, XRP, Solana and BNB were retested and, in some cases, fell below key levels.
Bitcoin drops to $103,598
Bitcoin led the market’s sharp decline on Friday, October 17, 2025. While this pullback was not as severe as the liquidation event on October 10, BTC’s drop to lows around $103,500 marked another significant swing for the flagship asset.
The digital asset partially recovered to roughly $106,600 at the time of writing.
Still, the plunge renewed fears across a market that had already experienced a historic $19 billion liquidation event just a week earlier.
The Bitcoin sell-off coincided with increased investor nervousness on Wall Street following news of nonperforming loans at two U.S. regional banks.
A jittery market reacted quickly, and BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes shared his view on potential implications.
$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 mirror BTC weakness
Bitcoin’s sharp decline dominated headlines, trading intraday between $109,260 and $103,598. The weakness, however, was widespread: Ethereum, XRP, Solana and BNB all surrendered a portion of their recent gains.
Pressure on Bitcoin, coinciding with major ETF outflows, pushed Ether below $3,680.
This extended Ether’s drop beneath the key $4,000 support level, though bulls were attempting to defend around $3,800 at the time of writing.
Crypto analyst Lark Davis commented that Ethereum was approaching a decisive 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 lows of $2.20, moving away from the important psychological supports at $2.50 and $3.00.
Positive developments—such as Ripple’s acquisition of treasury firm GTreasury and reported issuance growth of $1 billion for XRP—could provide some optimistic sentiment.
Solana, trading around $182, dropped nearly 5% to lows near $174, reinforcing bearish pressure below the critical $200 level.
BNB, one of the top performers in recent months, also gave back gains as the price slid to lows near $1,024. BNB reached an all-time high of $1,370 on October 13.
Aave, Flare, Bitcoin Cash among biggest losers
As top altcoins mirrored Bitcoin’s weakness and losses on Wall Street catalyzed the dump, Aave, Aster, Flare and Bitcoin Cash emerged as some of the day’s largest decliners.
Notably, AAVE dropped about 13%, ASTER fell around 10%, FLR declined 9.7%, and BCH traded down roughly 8%, ranking among the weakest of the top 100 coins by market cap.
Earlier in the session, Zcash dipped below $190 amid a roughly 20% sell-off before a modest rebound pushed ZEC above $216; the privacy coin was still down about 7% over the prior 24 hours.
On the winners’ side, Ethena, ZORA and Jito stood out. Jito gained following optimistic news of a $50 million investment by a16z into the Solana staking protocol, which helped lift the token’s sentiment.