Bitcoin’s Six-Year “Uptober” Run Ends as Market Turbulence Turns October Red
November 1, 2025
Bitcoin’s six-year winning streak in October has ended. The world’s largest cryptocurrency finished the month in the red after a mid-October sell-off wiped out early gains and triggered a broad market retreat.
According to CoinDesk Data, October 2025 marks Bitcoin’s first losing October since 2018, breaking a pattern traders had come to call “Uptober” — a reference to the cryptocurrency’s consistent October rallies from 2019 through 2024.
The reversal came on October 10, when former U.S. President Donald Trump threatened new tariffs on China amid rising tensions over rare-earth supplies. The comments sparked a global risk-off reaction, spilling into digital assets and leading to heavy liquidations across crypto derivatives markets.
Bitcoin plunged from the low $120,000s to around $105,000 within hours as thin liquidity and overleveraged positions amplified selling pressure. Over the next two days, tens of billions of dollars in positions were wiped out, and more than $500 billion in crypto market value evaporated before prices stabilized.
The pullback was driven by macro forces rather than crypto-specific events, underscoring how intertwined digital assets remain with global sentiment.
By month’s end, Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, and XRP all showed the same pattern — an early rally, a sharp mid-month dip, and a modest recovery that failed to reclaim prior highs. BNB stood out as the only major asset to close higher, gaining 4.2%, while smaller tokens like ZEC, XMR, and WBTC also finished in positive territory.
The “Uptober” phenomenon, long celebrated in crypto circles, originated from Bitcoin’s tendency to post gains in October across various market cycles. But this year’s red close serves as a reminder that seasonality is not certainty.
As CoinGlass’s Bitcoin Monthly Returns heat map now shows, 2025 ends the run of green Octobers — turning the month’s cell red for the first time in seven years.
The message for traders is clear: history may rhyme, but it doesn’t always repeat — Uptober just became Red October.
