When Easy Crypto Money Finally Ran Out

[bonk]

The crypto market’s October crash didn’t just shake prices — it shattered a long-standing trading model. According to BitMEX, the Oct. 10–11 collapse erased $20 billion and marked the most destructive moment ever for sophisticated crypto market makers. Strategies once seen as “safe,” especially delta-neutral perpetual swap trading, failed under extreme stress.

For years, traders harvested predictable yields by farming funding rates and spreads while trusting exchange systems to manage risk. But auto-deleverage cascades broke those assumptions, forcing traders to unwind positions at the worst possible time. BitMEX concluded that 2025 effectively ended the era of structural stability and easy alpha in crypto derivatives.

[ed]

auto-deleverage doing the opposite of what ppl expected feels like a betrayal tbh