A broad crypto market crash that began on October 10, 2025, wiped billions from digital asset values. Traders saw no clear macro catalyst that day. Later analysis instead highlighted a short stablecoin glitch and rising concerns about crypto-linked equity indexes.
Tom Lee of Fundstrat and BitMine said a pricing-feed glitch on one large exchange pushed a major US dollar stablecoin to about $0.65 for a brief window. Automated deleveraging tools read the dip as valid. They closed leveraged positions across futures and spot markets in minutes. Bitcoin and Ethereum fell quickly as forced selling spread across venues.
Market makers then cut risk to protect capital. That choice thinned order books and widened spreads, so modest sell orders moved prices sharply. Lee estimated roughly $19–$20 billion in losses tied to market makers and leveraged traders. He added that liquidity could take weeks to rebuild after such balance-sheet damage, which helps explain the slow stabilisation after the initial drop.
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Around the same period, MSCI opened a public consultation on whether companies with more than 50% of assets in crypto should stay in mainstream equity benchmarks. Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, stands out because Bitcoin makes up most of its balance sheet. If MSCI changes its rules, index-tracking funds would need to sell affected shares. MSCI plans to announce its decision on January 15, 2026, with implementation expected in February 2026.
JPMorgan said the review could force about $2.8 billion of passive selling in Strategy. The bank put the broader risk near $8.8 billion if other index providers follow MSCI. Strategy’s executive chair, Michael Saylor, has argued that the firm remains an operating software company and treats Bitcoin as treasury reserves.
Still, the MSCI process has kept the stock under stress and fed into risk-off sentiment across crypto markets. For European SMEs that use cryptocurrency for payments or treasury, the episode demonstrates how technical errors and index policy can simultaneously impact liquidity.
Many firms have reviewed stablecoin exposure, venue diversity, and leverage limits before transacting. They also track MiCA rules, which already apply to stablecoin issuers and most crypto service providers and which phase out transitional regimes by mid-2026 in many member states. Regulators designed MiCA to tighten reserve standards and platform conduct so that businesses can assess partners with clearer compliance signals during volatile periods.