Bitcoin, Ethereum and other major cryptocurrencies rebounded after a massive sell-off that began Friday and led to record liquidations across the market.
Bitcoin traded up 3% in the past 24 hours at $114,738 as of 00:45 a.m. ET on Monday, after it once plunged below $105,000 on Friday, according to The Block's price page . Ethereum also regained some ground, climbing 8.5% to $4,132 after sliding to around $3,500 at one stage.
Coinglass noted that over 1.6 million crypto traders were liquidated in a single day on Friday, with total liquidations amounting to $19.1 billion.
"The [Friday] wipeout was triggered by macro headlines rather than anything crypto-specific. Beijing announced new export curbs on rare-earth materials and Washington responded after markets closed with plans for a 100% tariff on Chinese tech imports," Rick Maeda, research associate of Presto Research, told The Block.
Maeda said that the sell-off hit during thin weekend liquidity, "causing billions in forced liquidations."
"The rebound since then is partly mechanical: leverage flushed out, cascades stabilised, and the market is seemingly not too concerned about the possibility of the tariffs as prediction markets like Polymarket are only pricing in a 15% chance that the tariff takes effect by Nov. 1, 2025," Maeda added.
Vincent Liu, chief investment officer at Kronos Research, said liquidity is starting to return as markets rebound amid leverage resets and easing tariff concerns, "turning last weekend's panic into renewed risk appetite."
"Despite the weekend whiplash, the 'Uptober' uptrend stays alive as buyers boldly buy the dip," said Liu. "Traders are tracking tariffs, trendlines, and dollar strength to see whether BTC’s bounce can build back real bullish momentum."
Nassar Achkar, chief strategy officer of CoinW, also shared similar views, saying that the Uptober trend "remains intact," and traders are now watching key macroeconomic signals, "particularly the upcoming US CPI report and Federal Reserve meeting, along with the health of institutional ETF flows, to gauge the market's next direction."
Nick Ruck, director of LVRG Research, said that while the Uptober trend faces a test, the rebound has been supported by on-chain data showing whales are accumulating assets like Ethereum, and "technical indicators point to a confirmed market bottom for several oversold altcoins."
Maeda of Presto argued that the Uptober trend has been dented but "perhaps not derailed."
"[Given] the sheer size of the liquidations, which is understood to be the largest in crypto's history, the 'trauma' may remain as a heavy headwind to many market participants. Traders will also now be far more sensitive to macro tape bombs, especially around the US–China tariff spat," said Maeda.