Recent market volatility on October 10, 2025, sent shockwaves through the cryptocurrency world, with several tokens experiencing extreme price fluctuations on the Binance exchange. While some altcoins appeared to crash to $0, Binance has stated that these instances were primarily due to display issues and not indicative of actual zero-value trades.
The exchange acknowledged that "intense market activity" led to system delays and display problems. Certain trading pairs, such as IOTX/USDT, temporarily reduced the number of decimal places allowed for minimum price movement, causing the user interface to display a price of zero. Binance clarified that this was a visual glitch and not a reflection of the tokens' true value. The exchange plans to optimize its user interface to prevent similar display errors in the future.
The market downturn saw Bitcoin and Ethereum fall by nearly 7% and 12%, respectively, while some altcoins like Cardano and Dogecoin plunged by more than 20%. Some users reported issues such as account freezes and malfunctioning stop-loss orders during the market crash. Tokens like Enjin (ENJ) and Cosmos (ATOM) experienced "flash crashes" on Binance, with their prices momentarily dropping to near zero before quickly rebounding.
Binance addressed the de-pegging of certain Binance Earn products, including USDe, BNSOL, and WBETH. Ethena's USDe, intended to be pegged to $1, briefly fell below $0.66 on Binance. Binance has committed to compensating users affected by these de-pegging issues. The exchange stated that the extreme market downturn occurred before the de-pegging of these assets. Data shows that prices fell to their lowest point between 21:20 and 21:21 (UTC) on October 10, 2025, while the severe de-pegging occurred after 21:36 (UTC) on the same day.
Binance has already begun compensating affected users, with $283 million already paid out. Compensation will be provided to futures, margin, and loan users who held USDE, BNSOL, or WBETH as collateral and were impacted between 21:36–22:16 UTC, plus users with verified losses from internal transfers/Earn redemptions. Binance CEO Richard Teng and Binance co-founder Yi He have both issued public apologies regarding the depeg issue.
The events of October 10 triggered a wave of speculation and debate within the crypto community. Some theories suggest that the crash was a "targeted attack" on Binance's Unified Margin system, while others point to major centralized exchanges automatically liquidating collateral tied to cross-margin positions. Binance has denied any involvement in market manipulation.
Despite the turmoil, Binance's core futures and spot matching engines and API trading remained operational during the event. The exchange emphasized that the forced liquidation volume processed by the Binance platform accounted for a relatively low proportion of the total trading volume, suggesting that the volatility was mainly driven by overall market conditions.
The recent market volatility serves as a reminder of the inherent risks associated with cryptocurrency trading. Binance has pledged to improve system performance and risk controls, enhance platform security and stability under extreme market conditions, and provide a safer, more transparent, and higher-quality trading experience for its users.
