Here is why Bitcoin registered its first red October in 7 years

For greater than a decade, October has been considered one of Bitcoin’s best months to be bullish.

Historically, it has delivered common beneficial properties of about 22.5%, helped by post-summer liquidity, year-end portfolio positioning, and, extra just lately, regular demand from US funding merchandise.

As a end result, confidence in that sample was high once more this yr. And true to type, Bitcoin set a new record above $126,000 in the first week of the month as merchants shortly revived the acquainted “Uptober” slogan.

However, a flash sell-off erased those early gains inside days, and in contrast to tech shares and different danger property, Bitcoin by no means recovered its worth.

This resulted in the month closing decrease, the meme failing, and the market was reminded that slogans don’t take up provide.

Echoes of 2018

What makes this October notable is how carefully it rhymes with 2018.

Back then, October didn’t collapse because it merely stopped rallying. Once that ordinary seasonal tailwind light, November and December turned sharply decrease, with Bitcoin dropping greater than 36% in November alone.

The takeaway was easy: when a traditionally robust month fails to carry costs, underlying weak spot is already in play. That weak spot can stem from extra provide, fading demand, and even tighter macroeconomic circumstances.

This yr carries an analogous undertone. The calendar didn’t cease working. Instead, the market got here into October exhausted.

After a powerful first three quarters, merchants had been closely positioned, liquidity was uneven, and long-term holders started taking earnings into each signal of power.

Why did Bitcoin worth fall in October?

On-chain knowledge explains most of why the Bitcoin worth struggled in October.

Data from the blockchain analytics platform Glassnode confirmed that long-term BTC holders have been steadily spending cash since mid-July, growing realized promoting from roughly $1 billion a day to between $2 billion and $3 billion a day by early October.

It famous:

“Filtering by age cohort reveals that 6m–12m holders drove over 50% of current promote strain—particularly throughout the late phases of the highest formation. Around the $126,000 ATH, their spending exceeded $648M/day (7D-SMA); over 5x their baseline earlier in 2025.”

Crucially, this distribution was not a panic spike like prior capitulation occasions. It was gradual, persistent, promoting into each present of power.

According to the agency, most of the cash originated from wallets that had been bought for between $70,000 and $96,000, ensuing in a mean price of practically $93,000.

This means that the transfer seems extra like profit-taking after a powerful yr reasonably than a concern of a downturn.

At the identical time, Bitcoin’s poor efficiency was compounded by the truth that its purchase facet considerably thinned out in October.

In its weekly report, crypto analytical platform CryptoQuant noted a noticeable slowdown in US investor urge for food throughout spot markets, ETFs, and futures following the late-September rally.

Indeed, ETF inflows cooled considerably to lower than 1,000 BTC/day, which was significantly decrease than the typical of over 2,500 BTC/day seen in the beginning of main rallies this cycle.

Additionally, spot trade premiums narrowed, and the futures foundation retreated.

Moreno famous that these had been alerts that the marginal US purchaser stepped again proper when long-term holders stepped up their promoting.

Meanwhile, the macro backdrop additionally amplified the drag.

This yr has been dominated by (*7*)—and flare-ups in the Middle East. The Federal Reserve has additionally continued to sign a restrictive coverage stance, sustaining tight world greenback liquidity.

Considering all of this, analysis platform Kronos framed the October pullback as a “liquidity pressure, not a development break,” noting that Bitcoin nonetheless behaved as a relative flight-to-safety asset at the same time as leveraged longs had been flushed out.

What’s subsequent for BTC?

The uncomfortable parallel for bulls is that the final red October preceded a troublesome year-end.

In 2018, the lack of seasonal help was adopted by thinner liquidity, extra decisive long-term holder distribution, and patrons ready a number of legs decrease.

However, immediately’s market is more healthy as a result of the investor base is deeper, stablecoin liquidity is bigger, and controlled merchandise now present a slower, steadier bid that merely didn’t exist seven years in the past.

Considering this, Timothy Misir, head of analysis at BRN, described the present setup as a market that is “recalibrating, not collapsing,” including that institutional accumulation continues beneath the floor so long as Bitcoin holds above the $107,000–$110,000 zone.

Even so, the October print adjustments the dialog. When Bitcoin can not rally in the month it often rallies, the burden of proof shifts to the bulls.

The ultimate two months of the yr are more likely to be outlined much less by memes about Uptober and extra by whether or not long-term holder spending cools again towards $1 billion a day and whether or not US ETF flows reaccelerate.

If provide stays heavy and the regulated bid stays gentle, 2025 may echo 2018 with a uneven, irritating end to the yr. However, if flows return and geopolitics calm, October could find yourself wanting much less like the beginning of a slide and extra like a short, orderly handoff from older holders to new ones.

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