A Historic Crypto Selloff Erased Over $19 Billion, But Two Accounts Made $160 Million — WSJ

Prediction markets continued to run hot last week, with Kalshi and Polymarket both announcing new raises. Polymarket raised $2 billion from the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), placing the platform at a $9 billion valuation, while Kalshi secured $300 million at a $5 billion valuation.

The funding rounds have minted at least one new billionaire, with Bloomberg reporting that Polymarket's Shayne Coplan became the youngest self-made billionaire following the raise.

Last month, Kalshi captured a peak 60% market share against Polymarket in September, marking a significant reversal from earlier in the year when Polymarket dominated trading activity. The two platforms combined for a record-setting $1.44 billion in volume during September, reflecting surging mainstream interest in prediction markets as a new speculative venue.

An important technical distinction separates the two platforms’ approaches to market infrastructure. Kalshi operates off-chain, with market data accessible only through traditional APIs — leaving some observers unsure how to independently verify the figures. Polymarket, by contrast, runs fully onchain, where all markets and positions are publicly viewable on the blockchain.

Kalshi's recent volume surge is partly linked to its partnership with Robinhood, which now allows users to place sports bets through Kalshi directly within the Robinhood interface. This integration provides Kalshi with access to Robinhood's substantial retail user base, potentially explaining the platform's growing market share.

The partnership demonstrates how prediction markets are becoming increasingly embedded in mainstream trading platforms, moving beyond crypto-native audiences. 

This is an excerpt from The Block's Data & Insights newsletter. Dig into the numbers making up the industry's most thought-provoking trends.

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Singapore’s High Court has given the green light to a restructuring plan for crypto exchange WazirX, clearing a major obstacle in the company’s effort to repay users after last year’s large theft.

According to reports, the court’s approval on October 13 allows the exchange to move ahead with a court-supervised recovery process tied to the $234 million hack that hit the platform in July 2024.

Creditor Vote And Numbers

Based on reports from the company, the revised plan won broad backing from affected account holders. In an August revote, 95.7% of participating scheme creditors voted in favor, and those votes came from 143,190 participating creditors representing about $196 million in approved claims. The strong turnout and result were used by WazirX to press its case to the Singapore court.

The hack itself exploited a Safe Multisig wallet in mid-July 2024 and drained a large pool of user funds. Investigations and media accounts linked the breach to advanced cyber operators, and the theft forced WazirX to freeze both crypto and rupee withdrawals while legal options were explored.

What Users Will Receive

According to several outlets, users may recover a substantial portion of lost funds under the approved plan. Reports have said recoveries could reach up to 55% of the losses, delivered as a mix of immediate liquid payments and so-called Recovery Tokens that represent remaining claims to be fulfilled over time.

WazirX has said the first wave of payouts — in stablecoin or USDT equivalent — would follow once the scheme takes effect.

That mix means some users will get cash-equivalent payments quickly while others will hold tokens that the company intends to redeem as it regains assets or generates revenue. The plan shifts part of the repayment responsibility to entities inside India to comply with local rules, a change that was highlighted during court rounds.

The road to approval was not straight. The Singapore court had earlier rejected a first version of the scheme after judges raised questions over the plan’s structure and oversight. That decision forced WazirX and its advisers to rework the proposal and secure a fresh vote from creditors before returning to court.Next Steps And Timeline

If the scheme becomes effective under the court’s timetable, WazirX says distributions of available liquid assets will begin within 10 business days. That window is expected to trigger the initial USDT transfers while RTs are recorded for the remainder of approved claims. The exchange will still need to finish legal formalities and coordinate with payment processors and regulators.

Featured image from Pixabay, chart from TradingView

The wider crypto market has signaled bullish sentiment akin to Gold and Silver, which hit their new respective all-time highs on Monday. The total crypto market cap was up nearly 2% to hover about $4.05 trillion during the mid North American trading session. 

Bitcoin price traded about $115,916 at press time after rebounding from its last Friday’s low of about $109,883, following the historic deleveraging event. Ethereum price gained over 3% to reach a range high of about $4,283.

Main Reasons Why the Crypto Market Gained Today

Short Squeeze Impact

After a heavy liquidation of long traders last week, the crypto market has experienced heightened buy-the-dip orders, thus fueling the liquidation of short traders. According to market data from CoinGlass, a total of $650 million was liquidated during the last 24 hours with the majority involving short traders.

High Institutional Investors’ Demand for Crypto Assets

On Monday, China Renaissance Holdings announced plans to purchase $600 million in BNB coins. Citigroup bank announced plans to launch its crypto assets custody services by 2026. 

Earlier on Monday, on-chain data analysis revealed BitMine acquired over 200k Ethereum last week despite the crypto volatility.

Macroeconomic Certainty 

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump visited several countries in the Middle East to establish lasting peace deals. Meanwhile, President Trump signaled that his upcoming meeting with China’s President Xi has not been canceled, thus instilling traders with confidence of an imminent trade deal between the two nations.

What’s Next?

The crypto market is still under the influence of midterm fear of future capitulation after last week’s heavy deleveraging event, which wiped out $20 billion. However, popular crypto analyst Benjamin Cowen has predicted that Ethereum price is now enroute to its new ATH with a minimum midterm target of $5,300.

With crypto traders anticipating more Fed rate cuts in the coming months, the crypto market is well positioned to rally exponentially. Moreover, on-chain data analysis shows the U.S. spot BTC ETFs have been accumulating more coins in the recent past.

Key takeaways:

• Bitcoin’s resilience after Friday’s $19 billion flash crash shows long-term demand remains strong despite short-term risk aversion.

• Derivatives traders remain cautious, with arbitrage opportunities and negative funding rates signaling heightened counterparty risk.

Bitcoin (BTC) reclaimed the $114,000 mark less than 48 hours after Friday’s flash crash, which wiped out $15 billion from BTC futures open interest. While Bitcoin showed resilience after such a major liquidity event, several factors could still delay a retest of the $125,000 level.

As long as investors continue to view Bitcoin as a risk asset and maintain its partial correlation with tech stocks, sustained bullish momentum will likely hinge on stronger confidence in global economic growth.

US job market data and US-China relations negative impact on Bitcoin’s price

Concerns about a potential economic slowdown, particularly after new signs of weakness in the US labor market, have made investors more risk-averse. Carlyle estimates that US employers added 17,000 jobs in September, down from an already soft 22,000 in August, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Bitget will list Fleek (FLK) on October 14, 2025. Bitget is a growing exchange, and new listings here may make it easier for traders to buy and sell FLK. Sometimes a coin’s price rises when it is listed on more exchanges, as more people can trade it. Fleek’s focus on AI in creative apps could attract more buyers. However, price moves depend on real buying interest, not just the new listing. If market demand is strong, the price could go up. If not, the effect may stay small. See more at the source.

KuCoin will list Fleek (FLK) on October 14, 2025. KuCoin is a large crypto exchange with many users. When a coin is listed there, more traders can buy it. This may bring higher demand and could make the price go up. New users might join because Fleek is about AI and social media—both are popular topics. However, big price moves may depend on market interest and the coin’s real use. Still, KuCoin listings often cause short-term price increases due to excitement and new buyers. For more, see source.