Bitcoin and Ether have regained stronger order book liquidity since the October 10, 2025, flash crash, while alternative cryptocurrencies continue to lose market depth and spot trading volumes remain significantly below their previous highs.
One year after the biggest liquidation event in crypto history, liquidity conditions show an uneven recovery. Bitcoin and Ether now have more buy and sell orders available near their market prices than they did on crash day or at the beginning of 2026. Smaller tokens, however, continue to struggle to attract liquidity, and spot market activity remains subdued.
Bitcoin was trading near $122,600 on the morning of Oct. 10, 2025, just days after reaching a record high above $126,000. Hours later, its price plunged below $105,000, with much of the decline occurring within minutes during thin U.S. evening trading. The sharp sell-off followed President Donald Trump’s announcement of 100% tariffs on Chinese imports, triggering more than $19 billion in leveraged liquidations in a single day.
To measure the market’s recovery, CoinDesk Research compared 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 dollar value of buy and sell orders placed near an asset’s current price. Greater depth allows the market to absorb larger trades without causing substantial price movements.
Bitcoin’s order book has strengthened beyond the levels recorded on all three earlier comparison dates. On Oct. 7, approximately $11.7 million in orders sat within 1% of its market price, about 75% more than on the crash date. That compares with roughly $9 million at the start of 2026 and $6.9 million in early 2025.
The improvement reflects more than price changes. Bitcoin is trading approximately one-third below its pre-crash level, suggesting that the deeper dollar-denominated order book represents additional capital supplied by market makers rather than a simple change in the coin’s valuation.
Liquidity 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, broadly in line with its level in January 2025.
Ether has experienced a particularly strong recovery. Its order book depth within 0.5% of the market price has more than doubled since the crash to approximately $4.2 million. Within 1% of the price, depth has increased by around 75% to $5.3 million, exceeding levels seen at the beginning of both 2025 and 2026.
CoinDesk Researcher Saksham Diwan said the improvement in Bitcoin and Ether liquidity reflects genuine capital returning to the market rather than a price-related effect.
However, this week’s market downturn put the recovery to the test. Bitcoin’s liquidity within 1% of its price fell approximately 12% between Oct. 7 and Oct. 8. Ether’s narrowest liquidity range also weakened slightly, although order volumes farther from its current price increased.
Altcoins continue to face deteriorating conditions. CoinDesk Research’s basket of alternative cryptocurrencies recorded its highest dollar-denominated market depth on Jan. 1, 2025, with lower readings on every subsequent comparison date.
Altcoin depth within 5% of the market price has declined by roughly one-third since early 2025, reaching around $2 million. Within 1% of the price, liquidity has dropped by approximately 16%.
Measured in token units, the picture appears less negative. Altcoin depth in token terms peaked on Jan. 1, 2026, and has declined only modestly since. Analysts cautioned that this apparent resilience is largely attributable to falling token prices, which mask the continuing reduction in capital committed to altcoin markets.
Spot trading volumes remain weak
Spot trading has yet to recover to its earlier levels. CoinDesk Research data show that weekly spot volume on centralized exchanges averaged approximately $279 billion over the four weeks leading up to Sept. 27. This was nearly two-thirds below the $801 billion recorded during the week of the October 2025 crash.
Trading activity reached a low in August, when weekly volume dropped to around $135 billion. Although volumes have since doubled, they remain well below the levels seen during the crash period.
Bitcoin and Ether lead the liquidity recovery
The October 2025 sell-off drained liquidity from crypto markets within hours, leaving investors uncertain about where capital would return once market conditions stabilized.
CoinDesk Research lead Joshua de Vos said the subsequent recovery has largely favored Bitcoin and Ether. While market makers have rebuilt liquidity in both assets to levels above those recorded before the crash, altcoin liquidity continues to trend downward.
De Vos expects this divergence to persist into 2027, apart from a small number of alternative cryptocurrencies that may perform differently. Continued institutional interest in major cryptocurrencies and the concentration of trading activity in Bitcoin and Ether could further widen the gap between the largest digital assets and the broader altcoin market.
