A short-lived institutional interest triggered a short-term buying spree, but market-wide FUD soon neutralized the positivity.
By Wahid Pessarlay
Editor Julia Sakovich
Updated
2 mins read
The cryptocurrency market witnessed a sharp bullish momentum on Tuesday, Oct. 21, with strong institutional interest pushing the leading assets upward.
US-based spot Bitcoin BTC $108 004 24h volatility: 0.0% Market cap: $2.15 T Vol. 24h: $107.10 B exchange-traded funds recorded a net inflow of $477.2 million, led by IBIT and ARKB’s $210.9 million and $162.9 million inflows, according to data from Farside Investors.
These inflows came after a net outflow of over $1 billion in four trading days.
Spot Ethereum ETH $3 841 24h volatility: 0.9% Market cap: $463.51 B Vol. 24h: $45.38 B ETFs in the US also registered $141.7 million in net inflows on the same day.
Bitcoin almost reached $114,000, and Ethereum broke the $4,100 mark briefly at around 16:30 UTC on Oct. 21.
The buying spree started as the selling pressure on the largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, started to decline, Coinspeaker reported.
Both assets, along with the broader crypto market, saw a selloff. BTC is currently at $108,000, and ETH is hovering around $3,850.
The sense of fear, uncertainty, and doubt has been surprising bullish traders since the $19.35 billion liquidations of Oct. 11.
Yesterday, on Oct. 21, the crypto market’s bullish momentum saw a $170 billion selloff, falling from $3.82 trillion to $3.65 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap data.
The fear and greed index has been roaming in the “fear” zone for the past 10 days.
Following the recent correction, the total crypto liquidations increased by 86%, reaching $651 million, as Coinglass data revealed. Of this tally, $352.4 million are long and $298.5 million are short positions that have been wiped out.
CryptoQuant analyst Axel Adler Jr posted on X that the Bitcoin volatility index reached 95%.
The Bitcoin volatility index has risen above 95% for the third time in a month. Essentially, this is a zone of sharp moves. 🌊 pic.twitter.com/QygEC0WFaT
— Axel 💎🙌 Adler Jr (@AxelAdlerJr) October 22, 2025
According to the chart he shared, this is the third time over the past 30 days that the indicator touched this critical level.
The high volatility suggests that investors and traders are still uncertain about the macroeconomic situation in the world, especially with the tension between the US and China.
Disclaimer: Coinspeaker is committed to providing unbiased and transparent reporting. This article aims to deliver accurate and timely information but should not be taken as financial or investment advice. Since market conditions can change rapidly, we encourage you to verify information on your own and consult with a professional before making any decisions based on this content.
Wahid has been analyzing and reporting on the latest trends in the decentralized ecosystem since 2019. He has over 4,000 articles to his name and his work has been featured on some of the leading outlets including Yahoo Finance, Investing.com, Cointelegraph, and Benzinga. Other than reporting, Wahid likes to connect the dots between DeFi and macro on his newsletter, On-chain Monk.
