Richard Teng stated at Consensus Hong Kong 2026 that the cryptocurrency market liquidation event on October 10, 2025, was not solely caused by Binance. He pointed out that after China implemented export controls on rare earth metals and the United States subsequently announced a 100% tariff on Chinese goods, "every trading platform, whether centralized or decentralized, experienced large-scale liquidations that day."
Richard Teng stated that approximately 75% of the liquidations that day occurred around 9 PM Eastern Time , accompanied by two unrelated and isolated technical issues: the stablecoin USDe briefly de-pegged to $0.65 on the Binance platform, and "some delays in asset transfers."
US stocks lost $1.5 trillion; the crypto market is "much smaller."
Richard Teng emphasized that the impact of the 10/11 attacks was global, extending far beyond the crypto market:
That day, the US stock market lost $1.5 trillion in market capitalization, with $150 billion liquidated in US stocks alone. The cryptocurrency market is much smaller, at approximately $19 billion.
This market-wide panic, triggered by the geopolitical rivalry between China and the United States, caused the S&P 500 to plummet in a single day. The cryptocurrency market, amplified by high leverage, experienced the largest wave of liquidations in history, with over 1.6 million traders being liquidated within 24 hours.
Retail investors are exiting the market, while institutional investors are entering – "smart money is positioning itself."
Regarding the current market environment, Teng frankly stated that the uncertainty surrounding interest rate trends and geopolitical tensions continue to put pressure on risky assets such as cryptocurrencies:
At the macro level, uncertainty remains regarding the future direction of interest rates. Geopolitical trends and tensions persist, and these factors do indeed put pressure on assets like crypto.
However, he also pointed out that retail demand has indeed weakened compared to the past year, but institutional and corporate deployments remain strong. Even with an unfavorable market environment, institutions continue to enter this sector.
This means that smart money is entering the market.
Binance's SAFU fund also completed the conversion of $1 billion into Bitcoin today.
