Here are nine notable events announced or unfolding on October 10 in previous years.
October 10, 2017: Vladimir Putin Calls for Cryptocurrency Regulation in Russia
On October 10, 2017, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed cryptocurrency regulation during a meeting with senior financial officials in Sochi, warning that digital assets presented risks involving money laundering, tax evasion, terrorism financing and fraud.
The meeting included representatives from the Bank of Russia and the Finance Ministry, which had expressed differing views on how cryptocurrencies should be treated.
Putin acknowledged that cryptocurrencies were increasingly functioning as payment instruments and investment assets internationally. However, he emphasized the absence of conventional legal protections and the possibility that ordinary investors could become victims of fraudulent schemes.
He called for a regulatory framework based on international experience while cautioning against unnecessary barriers to financial innovation.
The comments came as Bitcoin was gaining international attention during its extraordinary 2017 rally. They marked an important stage in Russia’s early attempts to define legal treatment for cryptocurrencies, mining operations and initial coin offerings.
Original reporting: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, October 10, 2017.
October 10, 2018: Blockstream Announces Bitcoin’s Liquid Network
On October 10, 2018, blockchain infrastructure company Blockstream publicly announced the launch of the Liquid Network, a Bitcoin sidechain designed to provide faster settlement and asset transfers between cryptocurrency exchanges and financial institutions.
Although the blockchain had technically gone live on September 27, the October 10 announcement detailed the network’s commercial rollout and participating institutions.
Liquid initially brought together 23 industry participants, including Bitfinex, BitMEX, OKCoin, Xapo and several other cryptocurrency exchanges and trading businesses.
The network introduced Liquid Bitcoin (L-BTC), a Bitcoin-pegged asset designed to facilitate transfers within the sidechain. Blockstream promoted settlement times of approximately two minutes, compared with the longer confirmation periods typically associated with Bitcoin’s base layer.
Liquid also supported the issuance of other digital assets and confidential transactions that concealed certain transaction details from public observers.
The project represented an early attempt to expand Bitcoin’s functionality without requiring all trading and settlement activity to occur directly on its main blockchain. Its federated security model, however, involved different trust assumptions from Bitcoin itself.
Original source: Blockstream announcement, October 10, 2018.
October 10, 2019: CFTC Chairman Publicly Identifies Ether as a Commodity
On October 10, 2019, US Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Heath Tarbert publicly stated that he considered Ether, Ethereum’s native cryptocurrency, a commodity under the Commodity Exchange Act.
Speaking at the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit in New York, Tarbert explained that the agency had previously established its position regarding Bitcoin but had not expressed an equivalent public position concerning Ether.
His comments were significant because cryptocurrency classification had become one of the industry’s most contested regulatory issues. Whether a digital asset was treated as a security or commodity could influence which regulators exercised authority over particular transactions and financial products.
Tarbert also suggested that Ether-linked futures and other derivatives could emerge in regulated US markets.
The statement was the chairman’s regulatory interpretation, rather than a binding judicial ruling resolving every legal question involving ETH or Ethereum-related transactions.
Nevertheless, the announcement became an important reference point in debates over cryptocurrency oversight and the development of regulated Ethereum derivatives.
Original source: CFTC statement, October 10, 2019.
October 10, 2019: Coinbase Launches Coinbase Pro Mobile Trading App
Also on October 10, 2019, Coinbase announced the launch of its Coinbase Pro mobile application, extending its advanced cryptocurrency trading platform to iOS devices.
Coinbase Pro had previously focused primarily on desktop trading, offering features such as order books, market-depth information and advanced order types.
The new mobile application gave customers access to real-time candlestick charts, trading pairs, portfolio monitoring and order execution directly from their phones.
At launch, Coinbase said the application supported more than 50 trading pairs and was available to eligible customers in over 100 countries. The company initially released the iOS version, with Android support following in January 2020.
The development reflected the increasing importance of mobile access in cryptocurrency markets, where trading continues around the clock rather than following conventional exchange hours.
Coinbase Pro was eventually phased out as advanced trading functionality moved into Coinbase’s broader platform, but its 2019 mobile launch marked a notable step in the evolution of retail crypto trading infrastructure.
Original source: Coinbase announcement, October 10, 2019.
October 10, 2022: Portugal Proposes 28% Tax on Short-Term Cryptocurrency Gains
On October 10, 2022, Portugal’s government submitted its draft 2023 state budget to parliament, introducing proposals that would substantially change the country’s treatment of cryptocurrency taxation.
The proposal included a 28% tax on qualifying gains from cryptocurrency assets held for less than one year, while generally preserving an exemption for eligible assets held for at least 365 days.
Portugal had previously attracted international attention for its relatively favorable treatment of cryptocurrency gains earned by individual investors outside professional trading activities.
The draft also addressed taxation of certain cryptocurrency business activities, mining and transactions involving digital assets.
The budget subsequently passed through parliament and was enacted in December 2022, introducing a more formal crypto tax framework for 2023.
The October 10 proposal marked a significant change for a country that had developed a reputation as a comparatively welcoming destination for cryptocurrency investors. It also illustrated the growing tendency of European governments to integrate digital assets into existing tax systems rather than leave them under ambiguous arrangements.
Original sources: Portuguese Parliament, October 10, 2022 and Enacted 2023 budget legislation.
October 10, 2022: BlockSec Details Recovery of Stolen TransitSwap and BabySwap Funds
On October 10, 2022, blockchain security company BlockSec published an investigation explaining how it recovered cryptocurrency associated with attacks targeting TransitSwap and BabySwap.
The original attacks had occurred on October 1. During its investigation, BlockSec discovered that an automated trading bot had front-run certain malicious transactions, allowing the bot to capture funds involved in the exploits.
Researchers found that the bot’s private key was vulnerable because of weaknesses associated with the Profanity address-generation tool.
After recovering the key, investigators reverse-engineered the bot’s smart contracts and identified methods for withdrawing assets to a secure address.
In its October 10 report, BlockSec confirmed that recovered funds had been transferred to an official TransitSwap receiving address and that it was working to contact BabySwap.
The disclosure illustrated how blockchain security investigations could extend beyond identifying attackers to actively recovering funds. It also highlighted the dangers associated with insecure private-key generation and automated trading infrastructure.
Original source: BlockSec investigation, October 10, 2022.
October 10, 2023: Caroline Ellison Testifies That Bankman-Fried Directed FTX Fraud
On October 10, 2023, Caroline Ellison, the former chief executive of Alameda Research, began highly anticipated testimony in the federal fraud trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
Ellison told jurors that Bankman-Fried had directed her to participate in crimes involving the misuse of customer funds, providing an insider account of the financial practices connecting FTX and its affiliated trading firm.
According to her testimony, Alameda used billions of dollars belonging to FTX customers to meet financial obligations and repay lenders. The trading firm had access to customer assets through arrangements unavailable to ordinary exchange users.
The testimony became one of the central moments of the trial, offering prosecutors evidence about how customer deposits had been diverted and how executives handled the exchange’s deteriorating finances.
Bankman-Fried was subsequently convicted in November 2023 and sentenced to 25 years in prison in March 2024.
The October 10 testimony remains a defining moment in the historical record of FTX’s collapse, exposing the risks of undisclosed relationships between cryptocurrency exchanges and affiliated trading businesses.
Contemporaneous source: The Guardian, October 10, 2023.
October 10, 2024: SEC Charges Cumberland DRW Over $2 Billion in Crypto Trading
On October 10, 2024, the US Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges against Chicago-based cryptocurrency trading firm Cumberland DRW LLC, alleging that it had operated as an unregistered securities dealer.
According to the SEC, Cumberland had bought and sold more than $2 billion in cryptocurrency assets that the regulator alleged were offered and sold as securities.
The complaint covered activities dating back to at least March 2018 and accused the firm of violating dealer registration requirements under federal securities law.
Cumberland, a prominent institutional liquidity provider, disputed the regulator’s position and criticized the uncertainty surrounding digital asset classification and registration.
The case highlighted the regulatory challenges confronting cryptocurrency market makers, whose activities involve providing liquidity and executing transactions across multiple trading venues.
It also brought attention to the distinction between exchange operators, proprietary trading firms and securities dealers, including how existing financial regulations might apply to each business model.
The charges were allegations at the time of filing, not findings that Cumberland had committed the alleged violations.
Original source: SEC announcement, October 10, 2024.
October 10, 2025: Record $19 Billion Crypto Liquidation Crash Shakes Global Markets
On October 10, 2025, cryptocurrency markets experienced the beginning of the largest recorded liquidation event in the industry’s history, with more than $19 billion in leveraged positions reportedly liquidated over a 24-hour period extending into October 11.
The selloff followed US President Donald Trump’s announcement of additional 100% tariffs on Chinese imports, escalating trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies and triggering a sharp retreat from risk assets.
Bitcoin, which had traded above $120,000 earlier in the session, plunged toward $105,000 during the turmoil. Ethereum and several major altcoins suffered severe declines, while some smaller tokens experienced substantially larger percentage losses.
Market data provider CoinGlass reported that more than 1.6 million traders were affected by the liquidation wave, with forced closures concentrated heavily in leveraged long positions.
Research from Amberdata showed that approximately $6.93 billion in positions were liquidated during a particularly intense 40-minute period beginning at 20:50 UTC on October 10. At the peak, approximately $3.21 billion was liquidated in a single minute.
The disruption also exposed weaknesses in exchange collateral systems. Ethena’s USDe, a synthetic dollar, temporarily traded far below its intended value on Binance, intensifying concerns about local pricing, margin calculations and cascading liquidations.
The episode demonstrated how automated liquidations could amplify an initial market shock into a broader collapse in liquidity. For further context on these mechanisms, Dave Finances examines the mechanics of forced crypto liquidations and leveraged trading.
The October 10 crash also emphasized the central role of derivatives, exchanges and market-making systems in cryptocurrency trading. For an explanation of the financial incentives behind these platforms, see How Do Crypto Exchanges Make Money?.
The event became widely known in cryptocurrency markets as the “10/10 crash,” a historical reference to the dangers of excessive leverage and interconnected trading infrastructure.
Original research and data: Amberdata’s October 2025 liquidation analysis and CoinDesk Research’s October 2025 market study.
Johan Shamshad is a financial markets writer at Dave Finances covering cryptocurrencies, trading platforms, brokers, fintech, financial regulation, and developments across global markets. He previously worked at Gulf News, adding newsroom experience to his coverage of fast-moving financial and digital-asset markets.
His work focuses on identifying market-moving events, company developments, regulatory changes, product launches, and shifts in trading and financial infrastructure.
Johan contributes news and analysis designed to help readers understand not only what happened, but why a development matters and how it may affect the wider financial landscape. You can reach out to him via his social media accounts:
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