Global investors were sent into a panic as bitcoin plummeted from over US$125,000 to briefly below US$102,000 within just 10 minutes. Ethereum (ETH) also dropped sharply, falling below US$3,800.
The shockwave of fear spread across the cryptocurrency market, triggering the liquidation of approximately US$19.2 billion in leveraged positions – marking the worst day for investors since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement released by the exchange, the firm said institutional and retail clients engaged in concentrated sell-offs following “global macroeconomic events” – notably, US President Donald Trump’s announcement of 100 per cent tariffs on China.
As a result, the cryptocurrency market experienced a collective sharp decline, resulting in highly volatile conditions.
“Binance has conducted a comprehensive review and can now confirm that during the event, the core futures and spot matching engines and API trading remained operational.
“According to data, the forced liquidation volume processed by Binance platform accounted for a relatively low proportion to the total trading volume, indicating that this volatility was mainly driven by overall market conditions.
“At the same time, the review confirmed that following 2025-10-10 21:18 (UTC), some platform modules briefly experienced technical glitches, and certain assets had de-pegging issues due to sharp market fluctuations.
“Binance remains committed to addressing these issues responsibly and transparently, as transparency has always been one of our core values. Accordingly, we have completed compensation for users affected by the depegging issues within 24 hours after the event.”
Binance has now launched a global compensation plan for affected users, distributed in two batches and totalling approximately US$238 million.
“Where the de-pegging impacted some users who had their positions liquidated due to holding these assets as collateral, Binance has taken responsibility and has fully covered their losses,” the announcement said.
A local spokesperson told InvestorDaily that Australian investors were unaffected by the incident.
“We can confirm that no users in Australia were impacted, as the affected tokens (USDE, BNSOL, and WBETH) were not available as margin collateral in the local market.
“In Australia, Binance remains fully committed to providing users with a safe, secure and compliant platform, operating in alignment with local regulations and maintaining the highest standards of transparency and user protection.”
Meanwhile, BNB surged over 16 per cent to a record high above US$1,350 following Binance’s compensation announcement, as well as optimism around an imminent spot exchange-traded fund approval.
“Binance has conducted a comprehensive review and can now confirm that during the event, the core futures and spot matching engines and API trading remained operational.
“According to data, the forced liquidation volume processed by Binance platform accounted for a relatively low proportion to the total trading volume, indicating that this volatility was mainly driven by overall market conditions.”
