Market Meltdown, Tariff Woes, & Apple Upgrades

We don’t need to tell you that this was a rough week for crypto. But you know what - what goes down must come up, right?

This Week in Crypto

This was one of the most brutal weeks in crypto history, and we need to talk about it.

• Last Friday, October 10th, President Trump announced an additional 100% tariff on Chinese imports, triggering a flash crash that saw Bitcoin plunge from roughly $122,500 to a low of $104,600 - a $20,000 drop in a single day.

• Ethereum fell roughly 21%, while more speculative coins like Dogecoin dropped more than 50%. 

• The crash results in over $19B in liquidated positions within 24 hours - the largest liquidation event in crypto history. 

  • For context, the FTX collapse in 2022 saw $1.6B in liquidations.

• The pain continued through the week. By Thursday, Bitcoin was experiencing its third consecutive day of decline, trading in the $104K-$108K range.

All 12 Bitcoin ETFs posted outflows totaling $536M on October 16th, marking synchronized institutional selling not seen since their launch.

XRP holders had an especially rough time. 

• XRP collapsed as much as 42% in Friday’s trade, plunging from $2.82 to a low of $1.64 before partially recovering.

• Institutional futures open interest decreased by $150M, with volumes surging 164% above the 30-day average - clear signs of forced deleveraging. 

• As of this morning, XRP was trading around $2.30, staying near an 11-month low.

If you took losses this week, you’re not alone. This week was the perfect storm of geopolitical chaos, low weekend liquidity, and overleveraged markets colliding. 

Not everything was bad news, though. On September 30th, the SEC issued a no-action letter allowing Ripple, Coinbase, and BitGo to act as qualified custodians for crypto assets through state-chartered trust companies.

• Coinbase announced on October 3rd that it has applied for a National Trust Company Charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to expand its custody business. 

• And Ripple’s application for a U.S. national banking license is already in progress.

This Week in TradFi

Traditional markets also had rough weeks after Trump’s tariff threats sent markets tumbling.

• Last Friday afternoon, Trump’s China tariffs triggered a global risk-off wave.

• The tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 3.56%, while the S&P 500 posted its worst day since April.

• After Trump’s tariff threat, nervous investors dumped their riskier bets and fled to the perceived safety of government-issued Treasury bonds and gold. 

• Markets have struggled to recover through the week.

  • By Thursday’s close, the S&P 500 was down 0.63%, the Nasdaq-100 decreased 0.36%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.65%. 

Meanwhile on the international front:

• European stocks finished Friday’s session lower, with the STOXX 600 down 1.3%, the FTSE down 0.9%, and Germany’s DAX down 1.4%.

• European defense stocks sold off amid news that the Israeli government approved the first stage of a peace deal to end the two-year war in Gaza.

• Gold prices rose today, hovering near record highs and heading for a seventh consecutive weekly gain.

  • Spot gold was up 0.7% this morning, after hitting a record high of $3,896.49 yesterday. 

  • Prices gained more than 3% over the week, supported by growing concerns over the economic impact of a prolonged U.S. government shutdown and expectations of further interest rate cuts.

• The World Bank raised its China growth forecast for 2025 up to 4.8%, up from 4% predicted in April - noting that China’s economy has benefitted from government support.

This Week in Tech

Apple announced upgrades to its iPad Pro, MacBook Pro, and Vision Pro lineup with the new M5 chip this week.

• The new MacBook Pro features graphics performance up to 1.6x better than its predecessor.

• According to Apple, the M5 chip enhances Vision Pro's display rendering by 10%, supports refresh rates up to 120Hz (up from 100Hz), accelerates AI-powered features by 50%, and improves battery life by 30 minutes to up to 2.5 hours of general use.

The AI funding bonanza continued this week with some massive rounds across the board.

• Reflection AI led headlines with a massive $2B Series B to advance open-source superintelligence, while Austin-based Base Power raised a $1B Series C to reinvent home-energy storage.

• Vercel closed a $300M Series F at a $9.3B valuation, expanding its AI web infrastructure, and n8n raised a $180M Series C for workflow automation and AI integration.

As usual, below are some fundraising announcements, M&A, and tech personnel changes that caught our eye:

• Deel raised a $300M Series E at a $17.3B valuation.

• Indian quick-commerce startup Zepto has raised $450M at a $7B valuation.

• Thinking Machines Lab cofounder Andrew Tulloch is leaving the startup to head to Meta.  

Arch is building a next-gen wealth management platform for individuals holding Alternative Assets. Our flagship product is the crypto-backed loan, which allows you to securely and affordably borrow against your crypto.

Disclaimer: None of the above is financial advice, seriously.