After surging to a record high above $126,000, Bitcoin and the broader crypto market have been shaken by unprecedented volatility โ literally.ย On Friday, crypto markets saw their largest-ever liquidation event, totaling roughly $19 billion.
The wipeout surpassed even the worst days of the FTX collapse in 2022, underscoring both how much the market has grown since then and how fragile it remains.
The sell-off began in classic crypto fashion. Reports suggest US President Donald Trump may have misinterpreted Chinaโs export controls, sparking a sweeping tariff threat that sent risk assets tumbling.
As markets reeled, crypto price feeds briefly showed zero prices on some tokens, and traders reported losing years of gains within minutes.ย
When the dust settled, Binance once again found itself in the spotlight. The exchange has since announced a major relief program aimed at helping traders impacted by the meltdown.
This weekโs Crypto Biz examines Binanceโs relief pledge, JPMorganโs latest crypto initiative, the continued rise of Bitcoin (BTC) treasury companies, and Elon Muskโs comparison of Bitcoin to โsound money.โ
Binance pledges $400 million relief program for traders
Binance announced a $400 million relief initiative to support traders hit by the Oct. 10 market crash, which was reportedly sparked by President Trumpโs new tariff threat against China.
The event quickly snowballed into one of the crypto industryโs largest liquidation waves, wiping out an estimated $19 billion in leveraged positions.
Under the new program, Binance will distribute $300 million in token vouchers to eligible users. To qualify, traders must have suffered liquidations on futures or margin positions during the peak of the turmoil โ between Friday 00:00 UTC and Saturday 23:59 UTC.
The exchange also plans to establish a $100 million low-interest loan fund for ecosystem participants affected by the volatility. However, Binance emphasized that it โdoes not accept liability for usersโ losses.โ
The move follows widespread criticism from traders, some of whom reported technical issues that prevented them from closing positions, as well as interface glitches that briefly showed several token prices at zero.
Binance was also linked to an exploit affecting Ethenaโs USDe synthetic stablecoin, which temporarily lost its peg during the market chaos.
JPMorgan plans to offer crypto trading
From skeptic to adopter, US banking giant JPMorgan is preparing to offer clients cryptocurrency trading services, underscoring Wall Streetโs continued shift toward digital assets.
In an interview with CNBCโs Squawk Box Europe, Scott Lucas, the bankโs global head of markets and digital assets, said that while crypto custody isnโt part of JPMorganโs immediate plans, the rollout of trading services is on the horizon.
โI think Jamie [Dimon] was pretty clear on Investor Day that weโre going to be involved in the trading of that, but custody is not on the table at the moment,โ Lucas said, referring to JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who has long been a vocal critic of Bitcoin.
Despite Dimonโs past skepticism, JPMorgan has steadily expanded its crypto-related activities in recent years.
The bank previously partnered with Coinbase to provide banking services for its customers and has developed its own blockchain-based payment system, JPM Coin, for institutional clients.
Corporations are betting on Bitcoin like never before
The number of Bitcoin treasury companies has surged by 38% in just three months, reflecting unprecedented interest in Bitcoin as a reserve asset, likely spurred by the success of Michael Saylorโs Strategy
In its Q3 Corporate Bitcoin Adoption Report, Bitwise found that 172 companies now hold Bitcoin on their balance sheets, with 48 of them emerging in the third quarter alone.
The total value of these corporate Bitcoin holdings rose 28% quarter-over-quarter, reaching $117 billion.
โThis participation helps legitimize crypto as a mainstream asset class and lays the foundation for broader financial innovation, from Bitcoin-backed loans to new derivatives markets,โ said Racheel Lucas, an analyst at BTC Markets.ย
Strategy remains the largest corporate Bitcoin holder by far, with more than 640,000 BTC, though its pace of accumulation has slowed in recent months. MARA Holdings ranks a distant second with 53,250 BTC on its books.
Elon Musk praises Bitcoinโs energy-intensive model
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk praised Bitcoinโs sound money principles, arguing that it offers stronger protection against currency debasement than fiat money, which can be printed at will.
In a post on X, Musk highlighted Bitcoinโs energy-intensive proof-of-work system, describing it as โimpossible to fake energyโ โ a contrast, he suggested, to government-issued currencies.
Muskโs remarks came in response to a Zerohedge post claiming that Bitcoinโs recent rally reflects a broader โdebasement trade,โ as investors grow increasingly wary of the US dollar.
Musk is no stranger to Bitcoin. His electric vehicle company, Tesla, previously added the cryptocurrency to its balance sheet. Despite later selling part of its holdings, Tesla remains the 11th-largest corporate Bitcoin holder, with 11,509 BTC on its books, according to industry data.
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