Bitcoin and ether liquidity recover as altcoin depth fades

A year after the October 10, 2025, liquidation crash, bitcoin and ether order books have rebuilt beyond their pre-crash depth, while altcoin liquidity and spot trading remain weaker, according to CoinDesk Research’s one-year comparison. The crash followed President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement and wiped out more than $19 billion in leveraged positions, according to estimates cited by the European Securities and Markets Authority.

For traders, deeper books in the largest tokens mean more orders near market prices, but the recovery has not spread across the market.

How much depth have bitcoin and ether regained?

CoinDesk Research compared order books on major centralized exchanges on four dates: January 1 and October 10, 2025, January 1, 2026, and early October 2026. It defines market depth as the value of buy and sell orders resting near the current price; deeper books can absorb more trading before prices move.

On October 7, about $11.7 million in bitcoin orders sat within 1% of the price, around 75% more than on crash day. That compares with about $9 million at the start of 2026 and $6.9 million at the start of 2025. Ether depth within 1% rose about three-quarters from crash day to roughly $5.3 million; within 0.5%, it more than doubled to about $4.2 million.

The dollar figures matter: bitcoin is about a third cheaper than before the crash, so CoinDesk Research says the deeper book reflects more capital from market makers, not simply a change in coin prices. The improvement is concentrated close to the market price. Bitcoin depth at 5% away was around $24 million, roughly its January 2025 level.

Why are altcoins still more exposed?

Altcoin dollar depth has declined at each of the comparison dates since the start of 2025, according to CoinDesk Research. At 5% from the price, it was down about a third to around $2 million; at 1%, it had fallen about a sixth.

Depth measured in token units looks healthier, but researchers said falling prices mask the decline in capital committed to those order books. For someone trading a smaller token, thinner depth can mean a large order has less liquidity nearby to absorb it.

Has spot trading returned to crash-week levels?

No. Weekly centralized-exchange spot volume averaged about $279 billion over the four weeks to September 27, nearly two-thirds below the $801 billion traded in the crash week, CoinDesk Research reported. Volume has roughly doubled since an August low of about $135 billion, but remains well below the crash-week level.

The recovery is therefore uneven: bitcoin and ether books are deeper, while altcoin books and overall spot activity remain subdued. Order-book depth is a snapshot of resting orders, not a guarantee that liquidity will hold during another fast sell-off.

Sources

• CoinDesk Research’s one-year comparison — coindesk.com