Every October, the crypto crowd expects fireworks. They call it “Uptober,” the month when charts usually flip green and portfolios finally breathe again. Yet this time, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and most other tokens are sliding instead of soaring, leaving many wondering what went wrong with the so-called “Pumptober.”
Early in October, excitement filled social media as Bitcoin hovered near $126,000, and many thought the next leg up was here. Then, the momentum faded. Within days, BTC price dropped sharply, and the mood flipped from confident to cautious.
It wasn’t just Bitcoin that lost steam. Ethereum followed, along with BNB and several top altcoins. The broader market started bleeding even as traditional markets looked strong. Many investors might wonder why crypto is dumping when “Uptober” was supposed to be different?
Bull Theory Explains the Rotation
According to Bull Theory, this is a case of liquidity rotation. When gold and silver hit new all-time highs, money tends to move toward them and away from riskier assets like BTC and ETH.
Gold’s total market value recently crossed $27T, adding nearly $6T in just a few months. Silver sits close to $2.7T, which is massive. When traditional assets like these surge, they drain liquidity from the crypto market.
— Bull Theory (@BullTheoryio) October 9, 2025
THE CURRENT MARKET DUMP ISN'T RANDOM.
Here’s what’s actually happening behind the charts
Gold & Silver → both hitting new all-time highs.
• Gold’s total market value just crossed $27T, adding nearly $6T in a few months.
• Silver now sits near $2.7T.
When large… pic.twitter.com/3LY8VtiDwH
Bull Theory says this shift is about fear, not failure. Investors are reacting to economic warning signs such as rising inflation expectations, government uncertainty, and tight liquidity. The U.S. government shutdown didn’t help, and the New York Fed’s latest survey showed inflation outlooks hitting a 3‑year high. That limits how aggressively the Federal Reserve can cut rates, which means short‑term liquidity remains tight.
Still, Bull Theory believes this is temporary. It’s a reset before the next phase of accumulation. Large players often use these dips to buy quietly. The pattern repeats: fear first, rally later. He points out that Q4 has historically been Bitcoin’s strongest quarter, with average gains around 80%. When liquidity flows back, crypto tends to recover quickly, often faster than expected.
To Bull Theory, this is not the end of the bull run, it’s the quiet middle of it.
Ash Crypto Sees a Strategic Shakeout
Ash Crypto offers a slightly different angle. He believes this downturn is intentional, a setup by market makers to flush out overconfident traders before the next major move. According to him, every bull cycle begins with pain and confusion. Retail traders lose patience just before the real breakout begins.
Ash predicts that the bounce could start between October 15 and 20. From his view, the rest of the month will surprise everyone with a strong reversal. He calls it a “massive pump” that could push Bitcoin toward $150,000 to $180,000 and ETH to $8,000 to $12,000.
Why market dumping in PUMPTOBER ?
— Ash Crypto (@Ashcryptoreal) October 9, 2025
This is happening to liquidate all the bulls and mainly the retail because MMs always flush longs before sending the market. I think pump will start again from 15th-20th and oct will end with a massive pump.
They want you to be bearish and…
It’s a bold vision, although his point is less about the numbers and more about timing. Fear often marks the turning point. The market has seen this pattern before, in 2017 and 2021, when panic gave way to explosive rallies. According to Ash, patience is what separates the winners from the shaken‑out crowd.
If Bull Theory’s liquidity cycle and Ash Crypto’s timing thesis align, Ethereum could recover alongside BTC once the market finds stability again. Both perspectives agree on one thing, this is not a collapse, it’s a pause.
What Comes Next for BTC and the Crypto Market
So, why are Bitcoin and crypto prices dumping in a month that’s supposed to be bullish? Because markets breathe. Liquidity flows, fear spreads, and rotations happen. “Uptober” didn’t vanish, it just shifted pace.
From macro rotations to market‑maker games, the current dip may be more about setup than surrender. Both analysts suggest that what feels like weakness now could turn into the base for the next rally.