The crypto industry recently had one of its worst days ever. And while bitcoin and ether holders seem to have put some of the carnage behind them, traders of many lesser-known tokens are still feeling a lot of pain.
More than 1.6 million traders suffered a combined $19.37 billion erasure of leveraged positions over a 24-hour period beginning Friday, Oct. 10. That’s the largest ever liquidation event tracked by crypto-focused data analytics firm CoinGlass. The wipeout marked a dark spot for the digital assets market in an otherwise strong year for cryptocurrencies that saw bitcoin and ether hit record highs. More than a week after the event, its ripples are being felt most in smaller coins.
Bitcoin and ether’s comparative resilience is largely due to the fact that the two largest cryptos by market capitalization are older and more well established than alternative digital assets, GSR head of content and special projects Frank Chaparro told CNBC.
“They’re just bigger, more established assets, with ETFs and other structured products behind them,” Chaparro said. “The long-tail tokens are less mature, less liquid, and naturally more prone to volatility.”
Chaparro also noted that bitcoin and ether suffered less losses compared to alternative crypto-assets in this month’s massive liquidation event.
