Teng says October 10 crash was driven by macro shocks, not Binance failures

Binance CEO Richard Teng said the October 10 market crash was not caused by any action or malfunction at the exchange. He argued that a sudden macroeconomic shock – new U.S. tariff measures and China’s restrictions on rare-earth exports – sparked a sharp flight from risk. About $1.5 trillion in equity market value evaporated within hours, while crypto liquidations reached $19 billion.

Teng noted that roughly 75% of liquidations occurred around 9:00 p.m. ET and hit every platform – centralized and decentralized alike. He stressed that the data does not support claims of mass withdrawals from Binance during the crash.

He added that transaction delays and the brief USDe decoupling happened after the main liquidation cascade, not before it. Users did experience delays, but Binance later compensated affected customers.

Teng also said the exchange processed $34 trillion in trading volume last year and serves more than 300 million users, making a “Binance mechanical failure” an implausible trigger for a global selloff of this scale. Institutional and corporate clients, he added, remain active despite softer retail participation.

The market is stabilizing, but liquidity remains thin: order books are lighter, spreads wider, and volatility elevated. Bitcoin fell from its peak near $126,200 to around $60,000 following the crash.

Binance believes the October 10 event served as a stress test for the entire industry, exposing how vulnerable the crypto market becomes when macro shocks collide with excessive leverage.