Bitcoin and ether have recovered their order-book liquidity following the October 2025 crypto crash, with more capital now available to absorb trades near market prices. Altcoins continue to face deteriorating liquidity conditions, while spot trading volumes remain well below their peak during the historic sell-off.

A year after the largest liquidation event in crypto history, liquidity conditions across the market remain divided. Bitcoin and ether have rebuilt deeper order books than those recorded on crash day and at the beginning of 2026. Smaller cryptocurrencies, along with spot trading activity, have yet to experience a comparable recovery.

On the morning of Oct. 10, 2025, bitcoin traded at around $122,600, days after reaching a record high above $126,000. Later that day, the price fell below $105,000, with much of the decline occurring within minutes during thin U.S. evening trading. The downturn followed President Donald Trump’s announcement of 100% tariffs on Chinese imports and led to more than $19 billion in leveraged positions being liquidated in one day.

CoinDesk Research assessed the market’s recovery by comparing order-book depth across major centralized exchanges on Jan. 1, 2025, Oct. 10, 2025, Jan. 1, 2026, and this week. Market depth reflects the dollar value of buy and sell orders placed near the prevailing price. Greater depth allows larger transactions to take place with less disruption to market prices.

Bitcoin’s order-book liquidity has increased across every comparison date. On Oct. 7, around $11.7 million in orders was available within 1% of bitcoin’s price, approximately 75% higher than on the crash date. That compares with about $9 million at the start of 2026 and $6.9 million at the beginning of 2025.

The improvement is not merely a consequence of price changes. Bitcoin is trading roughly one-third below its pre-crash level, suggesting that the higher dollar value of available orders reflects additional capital committed by market makers.

The largest gains are concentrated within the narrow price ranges where market makers are most active. At a distance of 5% from bitcoin’s current price, order-book depth stands at approximately $24 million, close to its level in January 2025.

Ether has also experienced a significant liquidity recovery. Depth within 0.5% of its market price has more than doubled since the crash to roughly $4.2 million. Within a 1% range, liquidity has climbed around 75% to approximately $5.3 million, exceeding readings from both January comparison dates.

CoinDesk Researcher Saksham Diwan said the increase in liquidity for bitcoin and ether reflects additional capital entering their markets rather than an effect caused by price movements.

However, the latest market downturn has put the recovery under pressure. Bitcoin’s order-book depth within 1% of its price declined by around 12% between Oct. 7 and Oct. 8. Ether also saw a slight reduction in its narrowest liquidity range, although available orders farther from the market price increased.

Altcoin markets tell a different story. CoinDesk Research’s basket of smaller cryptocurrencies showed its strongest dollar-denominated order-book depth on Jan. 1, 2025, with liquidity declining at each subsequent measurement point.

Depth within 5% of altcoin prices has dropped by approximately one-third since the beginning of 2025 to around $2 million. Within 1% of market prices, liquidity has fallen by roughly one-sixth.

In token-denominated terms, altcoin liquidity appears more stable. It peaked on Jan. 1, 2026, and has declined only slightly since. Analysts said this apparent resilience is largely explained by falling token prices, which can conceal the reduction in actual capital supporting the market.

Spot trading activity has also failed to return to previous levels. CoinDesk Research found that weekly spot volume across centralized exchanges averaged approximately $279 billion over the four weeks ending Sept. 27. This was nearly two-thirds lower than the $801 billion recorded during the week of the October 2025 crash.

Weekly trading volume hit a low of roughly $135 billion in August before recovering to nearly twice that amount. Nevertheless, spot activity remains significantly below the levels seen around the crash.

The October 2025 event caused market liquidity to disappear within hours, raising questions about where trading capital would return. The latest figures suggest that bitcoin and ether have attracted much of the returning liquidity.

Joshua de Vos, CoinDesk’s head of research, said market makers have restored liquidity in the two leading cryptocurrencies to levels above those seen before the crash, while altcoin liquidity continues to decline overall.

De Vos expects this divergence to continue into next year, apart from a small group of altcoins that may perform differently. He cited institutional investors’ continued preference for bitcoin and ether as a major reason that liquidity and trading volumes are increasingly concentrated in the largest cryptocurrencies.