Bitcoin closed down in October, snapping its six-year “Uptober” streak, while BNB rallied as a mid-month jolt left most majors stuck below early highs.
The shock landed on October 10 when President Donald Trump threatened steep new tariffs on China amid rare earth tensions, touching off a broad risk-off movement.
Bitcoin slid from around the low $120,000s toward around $105,000 in brisk trade, and altcoins fell harder as thin liquidity met heavy leverage. During the 10.-11. In October, derivatives markets automatically liquidated an estimated tens of billions of dollars in positions, and more than half a trillion dollars in market capitalization evaporated before a shaky recovery put a floor. It was a macro headline clashing with crowded positioning, not a crypto-specific catalyst.
By the end of the month, CoinDesk Data showed that bitcoin ended October in the red, the result that breaks what traders call “Uptober.”
On CoinGlass’ Bitcoin Monthly Returns heatmap, October 2025 is the first red October since 2018, ending a green run that stretched from 2019 to 2024. That knowledge matters because the pattern persisted across very different regimes—late-cycle spikes and post-selloff recoveries alike—so a 5 season return is that 20 trend, not a promise.
The shape of the month was remarkably consistent across one-month TradingView charts.
Bitcoin started out flat, suffering from the synchronized 10-11. October air pocket, then spent the back half of the month climbing without repeating its early peak. Ether traced the same flush-base-fade arc and stalled below the round number band that it tested in the first week. Solana and XRP repeated that rhythm with a sequence of lower highs into the final sessions. In practical terms, late rebounds did not turn resistance into support, which is why the monthly candles were printed in red for the four.
BNB broke ranks. It absorbed the mid-month decline, cut higher lows through the final third and closed October higher — about 4.2% — leaving a green print as peers slipped. Outside the top 10, several names also finished October on the monitors monitored here, including ZEC, XMR and WBTC, underscoring that pockets of strength remained below the surface even as the leaders cooled off.
Why the “Uptober” brand stuck is straightforward. It’s a community nickname born from bitcoin’s tendency to make gains in October over the past decade, reinforced by the CoinGlass grid that appears every October from 2019 to 2024 in green. Turning the cell red this year doesn’t erase the historical tilt, but it does push risk management back to band confirmation rather than calendar trust.
The numbers shown by different dashboards may differ for trivial reasons. CoinGlass presents calendar month, close to results isolating October. Rolling 30-day readings on major trackers are updated continuously and often include peaks in early October, so they can show a steeper decline into November 1, even when the strict calendar month looks milder. The direction is the same; the measurement window controls the size.
