On October 22, according to market data, the crypto market declined again this morning. Bitcoin fell below $109,000, currently quoted at $108,450, down 2.09% in 24 hours. Ethereum fell below $3,900, currently quoted at $3,866, down 2.96% in 24 hours. The total cryptocurrency market cap dropped to $3.751 trillion, a 1.9% decrease in 24 hours. The three major U.S. stock indexes closed mixed, with the Dow up 0.47%, the S&P 500 flat, and the Nasdaq down 0.16%, with the Dow hitting another all-time high. U.S. crypto concept stocks mostly fell, and Ethereum crypto treasury (DAT) companies all declined, including: Bitmine Immersion (BMNR) down 3.46%; SharpLink Gaming (SBET) down 3.04%; Bit Digital (BTBT) down 8.29%; BTCS Inc (BTCS) down 3.68%. Leading the altcoin declines were: AUCTION currently at $7.77, down 20.8% in 24 hours; MLN at $8.6, down 18.8% in 24 hours; DOGS at $0.000061, down 15.6% in 24 hours; BIO at $0.089, down 13.8% in 24 hours.
According to Coinglass data, $741 million was liquidated across the network in the past 24 hours, with $436 million in long positions and $305 million in short positions. Among them, Bitcoin long positions were liquidated for $169 million, Bitcoin short positions for $155 million, Ethereum long positions for $112 million, and Ethereum short positions for $78.83 million. In addition, in the past 24 hours, a total of 179,480 people were liquidated globally, with the largest single liquidation occurring on Hyperliquid - BTC-USD for $14.45 million.
On October 22, a "whale" investor holding about $11 billion in Bitcoin recently profited about $200 million during the market decline and opened another $235 million Bitcoin short position, showing a bearish outlook on further downside in the crypto market. This investor opened a $235 million short position with 10x leverage last Monday when Bitcoin was around $111,190, currently facing an unrealized loss of about $2.6 million. If Bitcoin price breaks above $112,368, it will trigger a forced liquidation.
In addition, the "whale" also transferred about $540 million in Bitcoin to new wallets, including $2.2 billion into Coinbase exchange, demonstrating a strategy of liquidity management.
Notably, the new group of Bitcoin "whales" is facing about $6.95 billion in unrealized losses during the recent market downturn, accounting for about 45% of all "whale realized market value," reflecting the risk exposure of large funds in the market.
Despite bearish market sentiment, analysts believe that Bitcoin's recent four-day drop to $104,000 may be a healthy correction, helping to clear excessive leverage and prompting market participants to adopt more conservative position strategies.
Overall, these dynamics indicate that large investors are actively adjusting their positions in preparation for possible market volatility.
On October 22, spot gold plunged 2.00% intraday, now quoted at $4,043.02 per ounce. Yesterday, spot gold plummeted 6%, marking the largest drop in over 12 years. After hitting a high of $4,381 per ounce on Monday, gold prices fell sharply to $4,082 on Tuesday, which the market generally sees as a long-overdue correction. Gold's historic rally this year has accelerated in recent weeks, with a 25% gain in just the past two months.
According to The Block, the organization behind the public chain project Kadena has begun liquidation and ceased all business and maintenance from today due to unfavorable market conditions; its PoW chain will continue to operate until miners and maintainers exit. KDA is currently priced at about $0.092, down more than 59% on the day, a sharp drop from its 2021 high of $27. The team stated that about 566 million KDA will continue to be distributed as mining rewards until 2139. Kadena was founded by Stuart Popejoy and William Martino in 2019 and has raised a total of about $15 million.
On October 22, according to Bloomberg, the three major securities exchanges in the Asia-Pacific region, including the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, are resisting the trend of listed companies hoarding cryptocurrencies as a core business. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange has questioned the strategic plans of at least five companies to transform into crypto treasury (DAT) companies in recent months, citing violations of regulations prohibiting the holding of large amounts of liquid assets. Exchanges in India and Australia have also taken similar stances, giving listed companies greater resistance to transforming into crypto treasury (DAT) companies.
On October 22, trader Eugene Ng Ah Sio posted on his personal channel, stating, "I still insist that the market is now at hell difficulty, and I do not recommend making major trades (whether long or short) until I think market conditions have eased. But for now, all I see is excellent traders being repeatedly cut by the market like sashimi (including my own small-scale short-term trades are no exception)."