Bitcoin crashes to $65K, triggering $1.8B in liquidations
In brief
- Bitcoin dropped 8% to $65,360 from Tuesday's $71,300 high
- $1.8 billion in total liquidations hit long and short positions
- $774.2 million in Bitcoin longs liquidated, plus $440 million in Ether
- Price declined 21% from local high of $82,800
- Traders watch $60,000 as critical support level
Liquidation Cascade Across Markets
Bitcoin dropped 8% to $65,360, a nine-week low, from Tuesday's high of $71,300. The move triggered a cascade of forced position closures. Over $1.8 billion in total crypto liquidations occurred across short and long positions, with more than $1.58 billion in long positions liquidated. Bitcoin accounted for $774.2 million of that total. Ether followed with $440 million in long liquidations.
The event marked the largest liquidation since early February. At that time, Bitcoin tanked below $60,000, sparking a broader market selloff. The current drawdown extends 21% from the local high of $82,800 set weeks earlier. Geopolitical tensions surrounding the US-Iran conflict added pressure to the selloff, as risk-off sentiment rippled through financial markets.
Support Levels in Focus
Analysts identified several key price floors. Michael van de Poppe, founder of MN Capital, flagged the $61,000 area with the 200-Week Moving Average as a potential support level. Colin Talks Crypto identified $65,000 to $66,000 as a reasonable support zone for a short-term bounce.
"This marks one of the larger single-day events in recent months" — CryptoBanter analysts
Traders expected bulls to defend the $60,000 level aggressively. A break below that mark may plunge Bitcoin into a new downtrend, according to market observers. Bitcoin supply on Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange by trading volume, reached a three-month high of 659,000 BTC, a sign of potential selling pressure.
The current liquidation toll remains lower than the $1.6 billion posted during the Covid crash in 2020. Still, the speed and scale of Wednesday's move underscored the risks embedded in leveraged positions across the crypto market.
