The cryptocurrency market just pulled the rug on leverage again, clearing out more than $270 million in forced liquidations in just the last 24 hours. Ethereum traders absorbed the hardest hit with $132.8 million erased, Bitcoin followed with $126.2 million and XRP holders alone lost $12.4 million.
Powell tried to spark some risk appetite by signaling that the Fed is done with quantitative tightening, but it barely changed anything. Prices are still struggling to lift, leverage remains exaggerated and every bounce feels one headline away from a retrace.
Bitcoin price news: BTC at $111,000 as longs wiped out
Bitcoin closed the session yesterday at $111,706, positive on the day but still trapped below the key $114,000 ceiling. The coin had previously slipped to $110,400 before clawing back, but futures data shows $126.23 million in liquidations, the majority long-side.
The “Black Friday” flush may have caused some trauma, but the current setup is clearer than ever: $110,000 is the critical floor, while $114,500 is the cap bulls need to break to unlock momentum toward $118,000. Until one side gives, the market remains in limbo.
Powell’s softer tone is keeping macro traders from abandoning crypto entirely, as “money printer” hopes are there; but without ETF inflows or sustained spot demand, Bitcoin looks stuck.
Figure of the day: Ripple CEO slams regulators over banking access
At DC Fintech Week, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse made the case without compromise: if crypto firms are required to follow strict AML, KYC and OFAC compliance frameworks, then regulators must provide equal access to financial infrastructure — especially the Federal Reserve’s master accounts.
Ripple’s own application for a U.S. national banking license is already in progress, but traditional banks are putting up a lot of resistance. Major institutions, nervous about direct competition, are putting a lot of effort into lobbying against Ripple joining the group, according to Garlinghouse. The company made it clear that if equal rules do not mean equal rights, then regulation becomes selective enforcement.
This is Ripple’s biggest move yet to bring crypto and regulated finance together, and it is a big deal for more than just one company. If it works, it will set a precedent for crypto-native firms operating under the same laws but still being locked out of core banking rails.
Chart of the day: XRP suffers 635% liquidation shock as bull get “rekt”
At first glance, XRP seems to be holding strong at $2.43, but digging deeper into the derivatives data reveals another story. In just one day, $12.43 million in futures contracts were liquidated, with $10.74 million of that tied to long positions. The imbalance shows a 635% spike compared to average ratios, exposing how one-sided speculative bets had become.
The sell-off earlier in the week that dragged the XRP price below $2 caught traders unawares, and the rebound was not enough to restore confidence.
Adding to the narrative, there are some big decisions about XRP ETFs coming up later in October, and that is what everyone in the XRP community is worried about.
So, XRP traders are dealing with two different stories at the moment: Ripple’s major push for banking equality on one side, and the raw market mechanics of overleveraged positions blowing out on the other ahead of the ETF deadline.
Ethereum can grab 60% share of $2 trillion stablecoin market
Joe Moglia, former TD Ameritrade CEO, predicts stablecoins to hit $2 trillion in five years, with Ethereum controlling 60% of the market. Tokenization is the “new economy,” he says, meaning that financial instruments like stocks, ETFs and insurance contracts will move to blockchain.
Ethereum’s strength is its programmable infrastructure, which can enhance traditional settlement systems — the “digital oil,” as it is sometimes called.
However, the market is not reflecting this optimism, with ETH futures liquidations at $132.8 million in a single day. This has pushed the asset to support levels near $3,300-3,400. Investors may view Ethereum as the backbone of tokenized finance, but the chart shows a market struggling to price that in.
Evening outlook
- Bitcoin: Hold $110,000 or break $114.5,000 — the range decides direction.
- XRP: Stability around $2.40-2.50 crucial as ETF decisions approach.
- Ethereum: Must protect $3,300-3,400 to keep tokenization thesis credible.
- Macro: Powell’s dovish signal offers support but liquidation risk still dominates.
- Overall market: More volatility likely, as leverage remains heavy and institutional narratives collide with fragile charts.
