Is Bitcoin dead part 2: Here’s what history says

In the last blog post, I shared some of the negative news and sentiment going around in past cycles. Today, let’s dive deeper into some of the major crypto liquidation events, and how the market recovered from them.

Because when things feel uncomfortable, history gives us perspective.

But first, some basics.

What a liquidation actually is 
Many traders use leverage, which means they borrow money to increase their position size. If price moves against them, exchanges force-close those positions to limit further losses. This forced selling can push price lower, triggering more liquidations, and the cycle feeds on itself. When lots of these happen at once, we call it a liquidation event. You’ll also hear the term ‘capitulation’, which is when panic selling marks a potential bottom.

So what did some of the biggest liquidation events of the past do to the market? Let’s take a look.

October 2025: The biggest liquidation event in crypto history
On 10 October 2025, Bitcoin fell from a high of around $122,500 to roughly $104,000. That’s a drop of approximately 14%, triggering the largest crypto liquidation event ever recorded. Around $19.4 billion in leveraged positions were wiped out in 24 hours, affecting over 1.6 million traders.

What happened next? Not only did Bitcoin not collapse, it recovered to around $112,000 within weeks.

From the biggest leverage flush crypto has ever seen.

April-May 2021: A one-two punch

In April 2021, rumours of Chinese government crackdowns on crypto mining sparked a sharp sell-off, dropping Bitcoin from around $64,000 to below $50,000.

Around $9.9 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated – at the time, the largest event on record.

Before the market could catch its breath, a second hit landed. On 12 May, Elon Musk announced Tesla would stop accepting Bitcoin for vehicle purchases, citing environmental concerns. Bitcoin dropped another 12% on the day to below $50,000, with further losses following over the next week.

What happened next? Bitcoin took roughly 5 months to reclaim its previous highs, reaching a new all-time high above $68,000 in November 2021.

March 2020: The Covid crash 
This was a particularly violent period because every global market broke at the same time. Bitcoin fell roughly 50% in a single day, from around $8,000 to near $3,800.

What happened next? Within about 2 months, Bitcoin had climbed back to its pre-crash level of approximately $9,000. By the end of 2020, it had reached new all-time highs near $30,000.
And despite being one of the most frightening moments in crypto’s history, it became the launch point for the entire 2020–2021 bull market.

What history keeps showing us
When you look at data like this, history sends a consistent message. Crypto doesn’t end during liquidation events. It resets, rebuilds, and eventually moves forward stronger than before.

I share this message because we’ve experienced a lot of volatility and uncertainty over the past few months. And I get that it feels personal when you’re inside it, but when you step back, you can see that it’s happened before. In fact, these moments form part of a long, repeating pattern.

A few cycles ago, an event like October 10th would have absolutely devastated crypto. Exchanges would have frozen or failed, stablecoins might have depegged, and markets could have spiraled into a multi-year bear phase, just like after Mt. Gox or the 2022 collapses. But this time, the infrastructure held strong: platforms processed the chaos without breaking, spot holders like ETFs stepped in to stabilize prices, and the market quickly recovered without long-term damage. That resilience shows how far crypto has matured, and its ability to weather serious shocks.

There are always going to be events that shake confidence in markets, and we’ll see many more along the way. But time and again, the market has shown it can absorb shocks and keep building.