Global Tensions and Technical Selloffs Weigh on Crypto

The cryptocurrency market continued its decline, slipping another 1.02% in the past 24 hours and extending its weekly losses to 10.4%. The downturn reflects a mix of global economic uncertainty and technical selling pressure that has unsettled traders.

Investor sentiment remains weak as ongoing geopolitical friction — particularly trade tensions between China and the United States — drives investors toward safer assets. The shift away from high-risk holdings like cryptocurrencies has added to selling momentum across the board.

Earlier this week, over $19 billion worth of crypto derivatives were liquidated between October 10 and 11. The sudden wave of liquidations set off broad deleveraging, sending leading digital assets lower.

Bitcoin plunged to around $111,000, while Ethereum fell close to $4,000. Other major altcoins, including BNB, XRP, and Solana, mirrored the losses, confirming widespread weakness across the market.

Stablecoin issuer Paxos faced criticism after a massive technical blunder on October 15. The company accidentally minted $300 trillion worth of PayPal USD (PYUSD) tokens due to an internal error on the Ethereum network.

The mistake was quickly spotted by the crypto community, and Paxos burned the excess tokens within 22 minutes. The firm clarified that no security breach had occurred — the issue stemmed from a system malfunction rather than compromised user funds.

DeFi platforms such as Aave briefly suspended PYUSD trading as a precaution. Although the token briefly slipped 0.5% below its peg, it quickly stabilized back to $1.

Industry figures, including OKX Australia CEO Kate Cooper, praised blockchain transparency for allowing the swift identification and correction of the problem — calling it proof of the technology’s reliability, not a weakness.

In separate news, Coinbase Ventures has invested in Indian exchange CoinDCX, now valued at $2.45 billion. Following its acquisition of BitOasis, the platform has entered the UAE market and manages $1.2 billion in assets for more than 20 million users.

Despite optimism from industry leaders about blockchain’s transparency and resilience, the crypto market remains under strain. Ongoing macroeconomic pressures, technical glitches, and recent liquidations continue to weigh on confidence — leaving investors cautious as volatility persists.