Binance Co-CEO Richard Teng has defended the exchange against claims that it was responsible for the October 10, 2025, “10/10” crypto crash, which saw roughly $19 billion in liquidations.

Speaking at CoinDesk’s Consensus Hong Kong conference on February 12, 2026, Teng argued the sell-off was driven by other factors besides any Binance-specific failures.

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Richard Teng Gives Binance’s Side of the Story on October 10 Crash

The Binance co-CEO cited macroeconomic and geopolitical shocks between the US and China. Specifically, he cited:

• Fresh US tariff threats, including potential 100% duties on Chinese imports, and
• China’s imposition of rare-earth export controls.

The combination, he said, flipped global risk sentiment, triggering mass liquidations across all exchanges, centralized and decentralized alike.

“The US equity market plunged $1.5 trillion in value that day,” Teng said. “The US equity market alone saw $150 billion of liquidation. The crypto market is much smaller. It was about $19 billion. And the liquidation on crypto happened across all the exchanges.”

The majority of liquidations (roughly 75%) occurred around 9:00 p.m. ET, coinciding with the release of macro news.

Teng acknowledged minor platform issues during the event, including a stablecoin depegging (USDe) and temporary slowness in asset transfers.

However, he stressed these were unrelated to the broader market collapse. He also emphasized that Binance supported affected users, including by compensating some of them.

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“…trading data showed no evidence of a mass withdrawal from the platform,” he added.

Last year, Binance reportedly facilitated $34 trillion in trading volume and served over 300 million users.

It is worth noting that the October 10 crash has been a persistent cause of Binance FUD over the past several months. The exchange has faced criticism from far and wide, with the heaviest attacks coming from rival exchange OKX and its CEO, Star Xu.

Traders Reject Teng’s Macro Shock Explanation Amid $19 Billion 10/10 Liquidation

Despite Teng’s detailed defense, traders on social media have responded swiftly and critically. On X (Twitter), users accused Binance of locking APIs and engineering conditions that forced liquidations, only to deflect responsibility with the “macro shock” explanation.

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“Blaming macro shocks is the new ‘it was a glitch.’ $19B liquidated and somehow nobody at Binance is responsible lol,” one user challenged.

Naysayers go further, with some users likening Teng’s claims to colloquial phrases in harsh criticism.

“‘It wasn’t us, it was the macro’ is the crypto exchange version of the dog ate my homework. $19B in liquidations and every platform just points at the guy next to them,” another said.

However, the majority of responses revolved around alleged fake API responses and questioned internal coordination at Binance. The general sentiment is that users feel the exchange is not fully transparent.

The backlash illustrates the ongoing tension between centralized exchanges and leveraged traders during high-volatility events.

While retail demand has cooled compared to previous years, Teng highlighted that institutional and corporate participation in crypto remains strong.

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“Institutions are still entering the sector,” he said. “Meaning the smart money is deploying.”

Teng also framed the 10/10 event as part of a broader cyclical pattern in crypto markets. He argued that despite short-term turbulence, the sector’s underlying development continues, with institutional capital driving long-term confidence.

Still, the exchange faces a twofold challenge:

• It must defend its role during unprecedented market stress
• Binance must also restore trust with a skeptical trading community.

While the $19 billion liquidation wiped out positions across the market, the debate over who or what should be held accountable continues to simmer online. This is expected, given the fragility of confidence in high-leverage crypto trading.

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