According to @KobeissiLetter, US margin debt jumped $57.2 billion in October to a record $1.2 trillion, marking the sixth consecutive monthly increase (source: The Kobeissi Letter citing FINRA October 2025 margin statistics). Year-to-date, margin balances are up $285 billion (+32%), and over the last six months they have surged +39%, which the author characterizes as the biggest recent jump (source: The Kobeissi Letter; FINRA margin statistics). Elevated broker-dealer margin balances indicate higher equity market leverage, increasing the probability and speed of forced deleveraging when prices fall (source: BIS Quarterly Review on procyclical margins and leverage). For crypto traders, heightened equity leverage can amplify cross-asset volatility and spillovers, with risk-off episodes transmitting through margin calls and liquidity withdrawals that can impact BTC and ETH alongside equities (source: BIS Quarterly Review on margin procyclicality and cross-asset contagion). Trading takeaway: monitor US equity volatility and funding conditions; a sharp reversal in stocks would raise liquidation risk across leveraged books and could pressure BTC and ETH beta to equities (source: BIS; The Kobeissi Letter data).

According to @KobeissiLetter, US margin debt rose by $37 billion in August to a record $1.06 trillion, up $139 billion over the last three months and $798 billion year over year (+33%), with inflation-adjusted gains of +3% MoM and +29% YoY (source: @KobeissiLetter, Sep 20, 2025). As a share of GDP, margin debt reached 3.5%, the highest since 2021, highlighting unusually elevated equity leverage exposure near prior cycle peaks (source: @KobeissiLetter, Sep 20, 2025). Elevated margin borrowing increases the risk of forced deleveraging and volatility during equity drawdowns, amplifying market stress when prices fall (source: Federal Reserve Financial Stability Report, May 2023). Because stock–crypto correlations have risen since 2020, higher equity leverage can transmit risk-off moves to BTC and ETH during drawdowns (source: IMF, Crypto Prices Move More in Sync With Stocks, Jan 2022).

According to @KobeissiLetter, US margin debt rose by $14.6 billion in July to a record $1.02 trillion. According to @KobeissiLetter, this follows a $87 billion increase in June, the largest monthly rise on record. According to @KobeissiLetter, margin debt has increased by about $400 billion, or 67 percent, over the last two years, outpacing the market’s rally.