Key Takeaways
- Binance reported that its core trading systems remained fully operational during the extreme market volatility triggered by Trump’s new tariffs.
- The exchange acknowledged that some assets experienced temporary depegging due to sharp market fluctuations.
- Trump’s announcement of 100% tariffs on all Chinese imports led to a crypto market meltdown, wiping out nearly $560 billion in market value.
Binance has claimed its trading systems remained stable during last week’s crypto market turmoil triggered by new U.S. tariffs announced by President Donald Trump, rejecting speculation that platform faults worsened the sell-off.
The leading exchange acknowledged that certain assets had faced depegging issues due to sharp market fluctuations and has pledged a $283 million compensation package for affected users.
Trump Tariffs Spark Crypto Meltdown
On Friday, October 10, Trump announced an additional 100% tariffs on all Chinese imports in retaliation for new export controls Beijing is planning for valuable rare earth minerals.
The President said the escalation is due to go into effect on November 1, with added export controls on “any and all critical software.”
“It is impossible to believe that China would have taken such an action, but they have, and the rest is History,” Trump said on Truth Social.
The increased trade tensions caused crypto markets to buckle, with $19 billion wiped out in just one day — surpassing the 2020 and 2022 crises.
Approximately 1.6 million traders saw their positions disappear, with over $7 billion liquidated in just one hour.
Bitcoin (BTC) plunged from above $125,000 to briefly below $102,000 during the frenzy.
Roughly $560 billion in value was erased from the total crypto market cap in one day, as Ethereum and other altcoins were rattled.
Binance Responds
On Monday, Oct. 13, Binance said in a statement it had conducted “a comprehensive review” of operations during the period of extreme crypto volatility after the announced Trump tariffs.
The exchange said it had found that its “core futures and spot matching engines and API trading remained operational,” adding that sharp sell-offs across both institutional and retail traders had sent crypto prices tumbling.
Binance said its data showed that “forced liquidation volume processed by [the] platform accounted for a relatively low proportion to the total trading volume,” suggesting that “this volatility was mainly driven by overall market conditions.”
However, the exchange acknowledged that “some platform modules briefly experienced technical glitches,” while “certain assets had depegging issues due to sharp market fluctuations.”
Binance said it had “completed compensation for users affected by the depegging issues within 24 hours after the event.”
Compensation Package
The exchange said it had distributed about $283 million in compensation for losses tied to the depegging of certain Earn products such as USDE, BNSOL, and WBETH.
“We have fully covered their losses,” the company said, adding that the depegging “occurred after the market sell-off, not before,” disputing any idea that its products caused the crash.
The exchange said it would also compensate users impacted by “brief lags in the internal transfers of funds and Earn product redemptions” during the volatile period.
“We will continue to maintain full transparency and continuously update the community on the compensation progress,” it said.
Binance also addressed reports of erratic prices on certain trading pairs such as IOTX/USDT, saying “historical limit orders” had been triggered amid “one-sided liquidity.”
The company said it would “optimize UI display and apply corrections,” but that “the API interface will remain unaffected.”
“Transparency has always been one of our core values,” Binance said.
“We remain committed to continuously improving system performance and risk controls, enhancing platform stability under extreme market conditions, and providing a safer, more transparent, and higher-quality trading experience.”
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Kurt Robson is a London-based reporter at CCN, specialising in the fast-moving worlds of crypto and emerging technology. He began his career covering local news in Cornwall after graduating from Falmouth University with First Class Honours in Journalism. There, he cut his teeth on everything from council meetings to missing swans.
He quickly rose through the ranks to become a frontline journalist at several of the UK’s leading national newspapers. Over the years, he has interviewed musicians and celebrities, reported from courtrooms and crime scenes, and secured multiple front-page exclusives.
Following the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kurt shifted his focus to technology journalism—just ahead of the AI boom. With a natural curiosity and a trained eye for emerging trends, he has found a new rhythm in reporting on innovation.
At CCN, Kurt's work focuses on the cutting edge of crypto, blockchain, AI, and the evolving digital world. Drawing on his background in people-first reporting and his deep interest in disruptive tech, Kurt delivers stories that are insightful, entertaining, and human-centric.
