A Sharp Drop, but Not a Surprise

Bitcoin and the broader crypto market have seen steep declines over the past week, with long liquidations and heavy deleveraging sweeping across trading platforms. Despite the speed of the move, Binance CEO Richard Teng said the volatility is not unusual when measured against other markets hit by global risk off sentiment.

He argued that crypto is reacting to the same macro pressures affecting equities, commodities and emerging market currencies.

Why Teng Believes Volatility Is Normalizing

According to Teng, Bitcoin’s long term trend shows a gradual decline in extreme price swings.

He pointed to several factors shaping current market behaviour:

• aggressive unwinding of leveraged positions
• stronger correlation between Bitcoin and global macro assets
• rising caution among traders due to geopolitical and interest rate uncertainty
• reduced liquidity as investors sit on the sidelines

These forces, he said, are not unique to crypto. Similar patterns are occurring in technology stocks, metals and even energy markets.

Deleveraging Is Driving the Current Market Stress

Teng highlighted that a major driver of the selloff has been the rapid liquidation of leveraged positions. When traders reduce exposure across risk assets, crypto often reacts first because it trades around the clock and has more transparent liquidation mechanics.

This creates sharp downward spikes but also provides faster market clearing compared to traditional financial instruments.

Institutional Flows Are Still Strong

Despite the volatility, Teng noted that institutional adoption continues to increase.

Large investors remain focused on long term positioning rather than short term fluctuations.

Demand for custody, OTC settlement and regulated trading products has remained stable.

He said this growing base of institutional users is a key factor contributing to the long term stabilisation of Bitcoin’s volatility profile.

Market Outlook

Teng believes that although the near term environment remains uncertain, the crypto market is much healthier than in previous downturns. Improved market structure, better liquidity provisioning and deeper institutional participation make recoveries faster and more orderly.

Bitcoin may continue to move with global macro conditions, but its behaviour is increasingly similar to other established asset classes.