Crypto ‘Easy Yield’ Era Likely Ended With October Crash

BitMEX, in its State of Crypto Perpetual Swaps in 2025 report, stated that the massive crypto crash between October 10 and 11, which wiped out $20 billion, marked the end of the "easy yield" era for sophisticated market makers. This event was described as the "most destructive event for sophisticated market makers in crypto history." A feedback loop of auto-deleveraging liquidated profitable, leveraged positions, breaking the market makers' delta-neutral strategies and forcing them to withdraw liquidity, leading to the thinnest order books since 2022. The traditional strategy of farming funding rates and capturing spreads became overcrowded, with funding rates dropping to 4%, making the trade unprofitable compared to Treasury bills. Furthermore, the market split between "fair matchers" and "predatory B-Book exchanges" that void profitable trades. While volumes migrated to decentralized perpetual exchanges (DEXs), BitMEX warned that on-chain transparency does not guarantee protection against manipulation, citing an example where a token launch provided attackers with a liquidation map to manipulate on-chain positions.

(Source：Cointelegraph)