The “Together Initiative” comes after nearly $19 billion in trading positions were wiped out during a market crash on October 10.
Binance launched a $400 million support program on October 14, 2025, to help users recover from the worst liquidation event in cryptocurrency history.
The crash happened when President Donald Trump announced 100% tariffs on Chinese imports. Bitcoin dropped from approximately $122,000 to below $110,000 in hours, with some reports showing it briefly touched lows near $102,000-$105,000. Other cryptocurrencies fell even harder, with Ethereum, XRP, and Solana declining 15-30%.
What Caused the Crash
Trump’s tariff announcement triggered panic across financial markets. In the crypto world, the situation got worse when three digital assets temporarily lost their normal values on Binance. These included USDe (a stablecoin meant to stay at $1), BNSOL, and WBETH.
USDe crashed to below $0.66 on Binance between 21:36 and 22:16 UTC (9:36 PM and 10:16 PM) on October 10. This 40-minute window caused forced liquidations for thousands of traders who used these assets as collateral for leveraged trades.
Over 1.6 million traders lost money during the crash. The total liquidations reached $19 billion across all exchanges, making it larger than the March 2020 COVID crash ($1.2 billion) and the November 2022 FTX collapse ($1.6 billion) combined.
Binance’s Two-Part Response
Before announcing the $400 million initiative, Binance already paid out $283 million to users affected by the depegging incident. The exchange processed these payments within 24 hours of the crash.
Source: @binance
The new Together Initiative splits the $400 million into two parts:
Token Vouchers ($300 million): Users who lost at least $50 during forced liquidations between October 10-11 can receive vouchers worth $4 to $6,000. To qualify, losses must represent at least 30% of their total account value from October 9. The exchange plans to begin distributing vouchers within 24 hours and complete the process within 96 hours through its Rewards Hub.
Institutional Loans ($100 million): A separate fund offers low-interest loans to institutional traders and VIP clients facing liquidity problems. These traders can access the fund through dedicated account managers.
Was It a Coordinated Attack?
The timing of the crash raised questions. On October 6, Binance announced plans to fix a pricing vulnerability in its system. The fix was scheduled for October 14. The crash happened on October 10, right in the middle of that eight-day window.
Blockchain data shows a trader started building massive short positions one day before the crash. This trader controlled over 100,000 Bitcoin and opened a $752.9 million short position on Bitcoin and a $353.1 million short on Ethereum. These positions were placed just 30 minutes before Trump’s tariff announcement.
The trader closed most positions the next day with an estimated profit of $190-200 million. Guy Young, founder of Ethena Labs (which created USDe), pointed out that USDe only lost its peg on Binance. Other exchanges with deeper liquidity showed no similar price drops.
The Bigger Picture
Binance’s total compensation commitment now reaches $683 million when combining both payments. This represents one of the largest user reimbursement programs in cryptocurrency exchange history.
The exchange emphasized it does not accept legal responsibility for trading losses. Instead, it views the $400 million as an investment in rebuilding confidence across the crypto industry.
Richard Teng, Binance CEO, publicly apologized for the technical issues during the crash. Binance co-founder and Chief Customer Service Officer Yi He also issued an apology on October 11, explaining that problems arose from extreme market volatility combined with a huge influx of users to the platform. The exchange has since implemented changes to prevent similar incidents, including incorporating redemption prices into its index calculations and setting minimum price levels for certain assets.
Industry leaders called for regulatory oversight following the crash. Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek stated that regulators should review exchanges with the most liquidations and examine their practices for fairness.
What Happens Next
Distribution of the $300 million in token vouchers was scheduled to begin on October 15, one day after the announcement. Users who meet the eligibility requirements don’t need to apply—Binance will automatically credit their accounts.
The crypto market has begun recovering since Trump softened his stance on tariffs. Bitcoin climbed back above $114,000, though it remains below pre-crash levels.
The October 10 crash exposed vulnerabilities in how exchanges handle extreme market stress. Using liquid staking tokens as collateral proved risky when liquidity dried up during the panic selling. Binance’s internal pricing system, which relied on its own order book rather than checking prices across multiple exchanges, created additional problems.
Rebuilding Trust
Binance stated in its announcement: “As with other challenging periods in crypto’s short history, we will get through this together, as one industry. We remain confident in our industry’s future.”
The exchange processes the largest trading volume in the cryptocurrency market. Its response to this crisis will likely influence how other platforms handle similar situations in the future.
The $400 million Together Initiative represents Binance’s attempt to maintain user confidence while addressing systemic issues that contributed to the crash. Whether these measures prove sufficient will become clear when markets face their next major stress test.