Bitcoin and Ether have strengthened their market liquidity since the October 10, 2025, flash crash, with order books now deeper than before the sell-off. Altcoins have not experienced the same recovery, as their liquidity continues to weaken and spot trading volumes remain significantly below previous highs.

One year after the largest liquidation event in crypto history, market conditions reveal a widening gap between major cryptocurrencies and smaller tokens. Bitcoin and Ether have attracted more liquidity near their current prices than they had on the crash date or at the start of 2026. Meanwhile, altcoin markets continue to lose committed capital, and spot trading remains subdued.

Bitcoin was trading near $122,600 on the morning of Oct. 10, 2025, after setting a record above $126,000 just days earlier. The price subsequently plunged below $105,000 within hours, with much of the decline unfolding in minutes during thin U.S. evening trading. The sharp move followed President Donald Trump’s announcement of 100% tariffs on Chinese imports, resulting in more than $19 billion in leveraged liquidations in a single day.

CoinDesk Research evaluated the market’s recovery by examining order book depth across major centralized exchanges on Jan. 1, 2025, Oct. 10, 2025, Jan. 1, 2026, and the current week. Market depth represents the value of buy and sell orders available close to an asset’s current price. Greater depth allows larger trades to occur with less disruption to market prices.

Bitcoin’s order book has now surpassed the depth recorded on each of the three earlier comparison dates. On Oct. 7, approximately $11.7 million in orders were available within 1% of its market price, representing an increase of roughly 75% from crash-day levels. The figure compares with around $9 million at the beginning of 2026 and $6.9 million at the start of 2025.

The improvement reflects a genuine increase in liquidity rather than a simple consequence of price movements. Bitcoin is trading roughly one-third below its pre-crash level, suggesting that market makers have committed more capital to orders near the current price.

However, the gains are concentrated close to Bitcoin’s market price, where market makers typically place their most active quotes. At a 5% distance from the price, order book depth remains near $24 million, approximately in line with its January 2025 level.

Ether’s liquidity recovery has been even more pronounced in certain ranges. Order book depth within 0.5% of its market price has more than doubled since the crash to approximately $4.2 million. Within 1% of the price, liquidity has increased by about 75% to roughly $5.3 million, exceeding readings from the beginning of both 2025 and 2026.

CoinDesk Researcher Saksham Diwan said the deeper order books for Bitcoin and Ether indicate that real capital has returned to these markets rather than the improvement being driven by price changes alone.

The recovery faced a fresh challenge during this week’s market decline. Bitcoin’s liquidity within 1% of its price dropped by around 12% between Oct. 7 and Oct. 8. Ether’s narrowest liquidity range also contracted slightly, although order volumes farther from its current price increased.

Altcoin markets continue to lose liquidity

The trend among smaller cryptocurrencies contrasts sharply with the recovery in Bitcoin and Ether. CoinDesk Research’s altcoin basket recorded its strongest dollar-denominated market depth on Jan. 1, 2025, followed by lower readings at every subsequent measurement point.

Altcoin order book depth within 5% of market prices has declined by approximately one-third since the beginning of 2025, falling to around $2 million. Within a 1% range, liquidity has dropped by roughly 16%.

Measured in token units, altcoin liquidity appears more stable. It peaked on Jan. 1, 2026, and has declined only modestly since. Analysts caution, however, that falling token prices explain much of this apparent resilience, concealing the reduction in dollar capital available to support trading.

Spot trading activity remains below its peak

Spot markets have also struggled to regain their previous momentum. CoinDesk Research data show that weekly spot trading volume across centralized exchanges averaged approximately $279 billion over the four weeks leading up to Sept. 27. This was nearly two-thirds lower than the $801 billion recorded during the week of the October 2025 crash.

Trading volumes reached a low of approximately $135 billion per week in August before recovering to around twice that amount. Despite the rebound, activity remains substantially below the levels observed around the crash.

Bitcoin and Ether remain the main liquidity beneficiaries

The October 2025 sell-off rapidly drained liquidity from crypto markets, leaving uncertainty about where capital would return after the turmoil subsided.

CoinDesk Research lead Joshua de Vos said the recovery has largely benefited Bitcoin and Ether. Market makers have rebuilt liquidity in both cryptocurrencies to levels above those recorded before the crash, while altcoin liquidity continues to decline across the broader market.

De Vos expects the divergence to continue into 2027, with only a small selection of alternative cryptocurrencies potentially escaping the trend. Persistent institutional interest in Bitcoin and Ether, combined with the concentration of trading volumes in major assets, could further strengthen their position relative to smaller cryptocurrencies.