Tom Lee: Deleveraging storm in October 2025 reshapes the landscape, with cryptocurrencies and gold diverging completely

February 2 News, the long-standing relationship between cryptocurrencies and gold as “correlated safe-havens” is being completely rewritten. Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee recently stated that the true watershed will occur during an extreme market shock in October 2025. This large-scale deleveraging event directly changed the price correlation logic between crypto assets and gold.

Before that crash, Bitcoin and Ethereum had outperformed gold for over a year, and the market generally regarded Bitcoin as “digital gold.” However, the systemic sell-off on October 10 shattered this consensus. Lee pointed out that this day became the largest deleveraging event in crypto market history, with the overall market cap evaporating nearly $2 trillion, with Bitcoin dropping about 35% and Ethereum nearly 46%.

In stark contrast, gold rose about 10% during the same period. When crypto assets faced forced liquidations, chain liquidations, and liquidity shortages, funds rapidly shifted to traditional safe-haven assets, causing a clear decoupling in their long-term trends for the first time.

Lee believes that this plunge was not merely emotional panic but a concentrated outbreak of structural issues. Market makers withdrew, liquidity vanished instantly, and automated risk control systems failed, amplifying the downward movement. In comparison, crypto assets’ dependence on leverage and sentiment made them more vulnerable in extreme environments.

Nevertheless, Lee remains committed to Bitcoin’s long-term positioning. He stated that Bitcoin has not lost its potential as “digital gold,” but compared to gold with thousands of years of trust, its price path will inevitably be more volatile.

Looking ahead, he pointed out that 2026 could become a crucial turning point for cryptocurrencies. As institutional applications, blockchain settlement, and integration with traditional finance continue to advance, the market will enter a new phase. However, volatility will still accompany development, and the ultimate value of Bitcoin depends on real use cases and societal acceptance, not just short-term price performance.