Bitcoin News Update: Pumpkin Faces $138K Deficit, Highlighting Crypto's Leverage Dilemma

On-chain information reveals that the crypto trader known as "Pumpkin" had a leveraged long position partially liquidated last week, resulting in a loss of about $138,500. This incident took place during a period of increased market turbulence, influenced by escalating U.S.-China geopolitical tensions, changing expectations around Federal Reserve policy, and unpredictable ETF activity.

(BTC) and (ETH) both underwent significant price volatility, with Bitcoin trading close to $111,300 and Ethereum near $3,957 at the time of reporting, according to .

Pumpkin’s liquidation happened amid widespread instability across the market. Over the last 24 hours, total liquidations in the crypto sector reached $817 million, with long positions making up $611 million of that figure, as reported by

. Earlier in October, a larger wave of liquidations erased $19.37 billion in leveraged trades in a single day after U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of 100% tariffs on Chinese imports caused a rapid market drop, according to . Experts point to a mix of macroeconomic uncertainty and excessive leverage as the main drivers behind the recent market swings, with Cryptonews noting that Bitcoin could see its first negative monthly performance since 2014.

This week, Bitcoin’s price has stayed within the $107,000 to $111,500 range, unable to continue its so-called “Uptober” rally. CoinGlass historical data shows that Bitcoin typically rises 20% in October during bull runs, but it currently sits 2.3% below its monthly opening price, according to Cryptonews. Meanwhile, Ethereum has developed a possible “triple bottom” pattern around the $3,750 to $3,800 area, which could provide technical support for a rebound, the report says. However, ETF sentiment has turned negative, with Ethereum ETFs seeing $127 million in outflows since mid-August, while Bitcoin ETFs have attracted $20 million in new investments during the recent volatility, based on the same report.

The Federal Reserve’s recent move to lower interest rates by 25 basis points to a range of 3.75%–4% did little to reassure investors, as Chair Jerome Powell cautioned against expecting further rate cuts too soon. Powell’s comments, along with the ongoing U.S. government shutdown now in its fourth week, have clouded the outlook for risk assets like cryptocurrencies, Seeking Alpha observed. Additionally, although former President Trump’s latest talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping led to some tariff reductions, they failed to restore market confidence, with the crypto market experiencing $150 million in long liquidations within an hour after the meeting ended, according to

.

Traders are now watching whether Bitcoin can stay above $110,000 and if Ethereum can hold above $3,400 to prevent further declines, as noted in an

. Blockchain data shows that large investors are accumulating Ethereum, but Bitcoin’s market share has dropped to 47.8%, indicating a shift toward alternative coins like (SOL) and , according to the Economic Times. CoinMetrics analysts believe the market is still in the early stages of expansion ahead of the 2026 Bitcoin halving, but warn that volatility from leveraged trading may continue until there is more certainty on the macroeconomic front, the Economic Times further reported.