The price of Bitcoin extended declines from Tuesday, plunging by 5.9%, below the $59,000 price, triggering a wave of liquidations.
The more than 5% fall was echoed by the decline in the price of Ethereum, which fell more than 4.5%, below the $2,500 price.
Also, the price of Solana (SOL) was down more than 6% for the day at $147. Tokens, including XRP and Dogecoin (DOGE), also saw Tuesday dips of more than 5% over 24 hours.
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According to CoinGlass, the sudden price drop triggered over $170 million in long-position liquidations in a single hour, stinging investors betting for the asset prices to rise. Those liquidations were reported to be dominated by BTC and ETH investors, with $65 million and $52 million in longs rekt, respectively.
“Crypto markets moved down sharply, triggering a leverage-driven liquidation. The move appears to have been kicked off by a material drop by Ethereum, which has been struggling all year versus Bitcoin”, said Steven Lubka, head of private clients and family offices at Swan Bitcoin.
Meanwhile, some investors and crypto enthusiasts, revealed that the bearish retracement in the prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum was triggered when news broke out that a federal grand jury returned a revised indictment against former President Donald Trump in his criminal election interference case in Washington, D.C.
It is understood that Trump has positioned himself as the pro-crypto candidate in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. Recall that the former U.S. president who once described Bitcoin as “a scam,” is now pitching himself as the pro-crypto presidential candidate.
“You’re going to be very happy with me. If crypto is going to define the future, I want it to be mined, minted, and made in the USA. If Bitcoin is going to the moon. I want America to be the nation that leads the way”. Trump said at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee,
Notably, amidst the recent bearish price action, the futures market is reported to have seen $93.52 million in long ether liquidation, which forces traders to sell their assets at market price to settle their debts, across centralized exchanges. Some $85.93 million in Bitcoin liquidations have occurred.
Also, on Tuesday, the U.S. spot Bitcoin funds saw net outflows amounting to $127.05 million. Notably, ARK 21Shares’ ARKB led the outflows with $101.97 million in negative flows, its largest outflow to date.
Bitcoin had seen a solid rise above $63,000 on Friday on the heels of remarks by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signaling an interest rate cut next month. But the price of BTC stumbled yesterday, prior to the latest drop. However, the crypto asset price is still safely in the range it’s been sitting in since April between $55,000 and $70,000.
Some analysts have pointed to the recent state of Bitcoin price movements as achieving “equilibrium,” with a recent report from crypto analytics platform CoinGlass noting that it might precede a period of “heightened volatility.”
Despite Bitcoin failing to break past the $65,000 mark, experts have suggested that investors should anticipate a possible record high once August ends. In a TradingView post on August 26, Trading Shot highlighted that, based on historical price movements, the end of August could be pivotal in pushing Bitcoin to reach the coveted $100,000 mark.