Bitcoin, Ethereum Get Rekt In Historic $2.6B Liquidation Bloodbath

• Bitcoin reset to October 2024 levels near $65,000, triggering a $2.6 billion market-wide liquidation, as long positions were aggressively unwound across major cryptocurrencies.
• Bitcoin and Ethereum holdings deleveraged, with combined holdings exceeding $1.95 billion.
• Sell-off spilled into altcoins, with double losses in Solana, XRP, and Dogecoin, as volatility rose. 

The crypto markets continued to fall on Thursday, bringing Bitcoin (BTC) down to about $65,000, which is about where it was in October 2024. This caused a long-term liquidation of $2.6 billion. 

The wipeout hit Bitcoin and Ethereum the hardest, as volatility rose and deleveraging accelerated. The $2.6 billion in liquidations, according to Coinglass data, put this sell-off in historic territory, placing it among the top 10 largest liquidation events ever recorded.

Bitcoin’s price fell to $65,030.20, a drop of 9.25% in 24 hours, as derivative positioning got cleaned out. Bitcoin had $1.38 billion in total liquidations in the last 24 hours, with $1.16 billion in longs and $221.50 million in shorts, which shows that the unwind was mostly on the long side. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around Bitcoin remained in ‘extremely bearish’ territory, while chatter levels remained ‘extremely high’ over the past day.

Ethereum (ETH) was trading at $1,910.85, down 10.33% from 24 hours ago. In the last 24 hours, ETH saw $576.34 million in liquidations, with $455.72 million in longs and $120.62 million in shorts. This keeps it firmly in the driver's seat for long-side capitulation among the top crypto coins. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around Ethereum improved from ‘bearish’ to ‘neutral’ territory, while chatter levels remained ‘extremely high’ over the past day.

Bitcoin Hits A Volatility Shock

Analysts said the setup looks like a positioning reset, and the "max pain" dynamics driven by options are becoming more and more important. They hypothesized that the move wasn't just about price, but also that volatility was priced in very quickly. 

On X, market watcher Juan Leon said that Bitcoin’s implied volatility rose to 88%. He also stated that there are "very few instances" of spikes that high. Leon added that futures liquidations are at extreme levels and that the market is "at or very close to max pain."

Higher implied volatility, heavy forced liquidations, and being close to max pain all point to a market that may be moving from a directional selloff to a phase driven by options and flows. This is especially true if macro headlines stabilize and systematic sellers run out of steam.

VanEck’s Matthew Sigel also shared on X that in October, futures open interest and prices both hit all-time highs. He pointed out that “BTC futures open interest has fallen from roughly $61 billion one week ago to about $49 billion today, a decline of more than 20 percent in notional exposure in just a few sessions.” He also said that, as Bitcoin has become more like a settlement FX asset, higher OI highs should be normal, especially with the rise of ETF options and basis activity.

Losses Spillover Altcoin Market

Losses widened across the complex as correlated positioning unwound.

Solana (SOL) fell to $76.54, down 15.9% over 24 hours, with over $187 million in total liquidations in the past 24 hours. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around Solana remained in ‘bullish’ territory, while chatter levels around it improved from ‘low’ to ‘extremely high’ over the past day. 

Ripple XRP (XRP) dropped to $1.27, down 12.5% over 24 hours. The altcoin saw $73.76 million in total liquidations in the past 24 hours. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around XRP remained in ‘extremely bullish’ territory, while chatter levels remained ‘extremely high’ over the past day.

Binance (BNB) slid to $620.49, down 10.6% over 24 hours. It saw $13.10 million in total liquidations in the past 24 hours. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around BNB remained in ‘bearish’ territory, while chatter levels improved from ‘low’ to ‘high’ over the past day. 

Dogecoin (DOGE) was trading at $0.08, down by 12.7% over 24 hours. The leading meme token saw total liquidations of $23.87 million in the past 24 hours. On Stockwits, retail sentiment around DOGE remained in the ‘bullish’ territory, as chatter around it improved from ‘normal’ to ‘high’ levels over the past day.

TRON (TRX) was trading at $0.26, down by 4.1% over 24 hours. TRON saw total liquidations of $177,440 over the past 24 hours. On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment around TRX remained in the ‘bearish’ territory, as chatter around it improved from ‘extremely high’ to ‘normal’ levels over the past day.

Read also: Is Bitcoin Ready To Test $80K Again? Traders Are Watching Liquidation Signals, US Economic Data

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