“Crypto Black Friday” Takes BTC Lower, While Luxembourg Hits the ‘Buy Bitcoin’ Button

The month began on a strong note with Bitcoin hitting a new all-time high, but a new tariff announcement by President Trump was enough to give the crypto market a tumble. 

Here’s what happened in the last two weeks: 

TL;DR

• Bitcoin dropped by $20,000 on Crypto Black Friday but bounced back shortly after.

• Luxembourg becomes the first Eurozone nation to allocate 1% in BTC. 

• BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF is on the verge of reaching $100 billion in AUM. 

Bitcoin Briefly Dropped by $20,000 on Crypto Black Friday 📉

October 10, 2025, will be remembered as the day with the largest liquidations in the crypto market we’ve seen to date. 

In under 24 hours, over $19 billion in leveraged positions reportedly vanished, and Bitcoin dropped by more than $20,000 at one point. As a result, some have named the day crypto’s first “Black Friday.” 

This was almost ten times worse than the days after the FTX disaster in November 2022, where roughly $1.9 billion was liquidated. 

But what’s the reason behind this? 

It all started with a Truth Social post by President Trump, where he announced a 100% tariff on critical Chinese software imports. According to the U.S. President, the tariffs would be effective on November 1st. 

After the announcement, global markets reacted. The S&P 500 fell by more than 2%, while Bitcoin dropped by almost 9%. 

At one point, BTC was trading below $106,000. Interestingly, the largest cryptocurrency managed to rebound quickly and finished the day around the $113,000 mark. 

However, other cryptocurrencies were not so lucky… 

Some of the bigger cryptocurrencies, such as Solana (SOL) and Ripple (XRP), dropped by more than 20%, while some memecoins lost more than half their value in a day. 

Once the dust settled, the majority of the top 50 crypto assets by market cap recovered from the initial shock and were “only” down between 5% to 10% from the pre-tariff announcement prices. 

But that didn’t help leveraged traders who got wiped out in droves. 

According to data from The Block, over $16 billion in long liquidations were triggered on October 10, and over $2.2 billion in shorts. 

Following a quick market bounce back after “Crypto Black Friday,’ the uncertainty created by the U.S.-China tariffs situation pushed markets lower, with BTC trading around $108,500 at the time of writing. 

Luxembourg’s Wealth Fund Allocates 1% to Bitcoin 🇱🇺

Strategic Bitcoin reserves have been a key talking point in the U.S. and smaller countries such as El Salvador and Bhutan. 

But this week, we saw another nation stepping in and announcing a dedicated allocation to Bitcoin! 

Luxembourg became the first Eurozone nation to officially buy Bitcoin. 

Its intergenerational wealth fund has allocated 1% (roughly €7 million when the news broke) of its portfolio to BTC through spot Bitcoin ETFs. 

Luxembourg’s finance minister Gilles Roth revealed the news on October 10 during his presentation of the 2026 Budget. 

With this announcement, one of the smallest countries in Europe takes a significant step by actively investing in Bitcoin. 

There are other European nations, such as Finland and the U.K., who hold BTC but none of these nation-states actively invest in Bitcoin. Instead, they hold it through seizures of criminal activities. 

I’m sure we’ll be seeing other European nations follow suit. 

After all, there is still some debate in the Czech Republic about a potential Bitcoin reserve, and seeing a small country like Luxembourg react could motivate others to reconsider. 

BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF Might Soon Crack $100 Billion in AUM! 🚀

There is no need to point out the success of the spot Bitcoin ETFs anymore. They have changed the game for institutional interest in Bitcoin. 

And one key player in all of this has been BlackRock. 

The world's largest asset manager has been a strong advocate for Bitcoin for the past two years, consistently reaching new milestones on a monthly basis. 

This month, the Bitcoin ETFs are inching closer to another milestone as IBIT is eying $100 billion in assets under management.

Larry Fink was on CNBC and mentioned his newfound passion for Bitcoin in a 60 Minutes segment, where he was very vocal about it being a great diversification asset.

There is never certainty when it comes to Bitcoin, but I think it’s pretty safe to say that BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF will continue to make headlines.

Your fellow stacker in Sats, 

Patrick Lowry

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this newsletter are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of any associated company. This newsletter is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment, financial, or any other professional advice. Investing in cryptocurrencies is highly speculative and carries a significant risk of substantial financial loss, so you must conduct your own thorough research and consult with independent professional advisors before making any decisions.