The cryptocurrency market suffered another heavy blow over the weekend. As leveraged long positions were liquidated on a massive scale, Bitcoin briefly fell to a three-month low just above $63,000. During Saturday's U.S. trading session, this largest digital asset dropped 5.7%; the decline continued into Sunday's Asian session, touching a low of $63,311, down another 1.7%, the weakest level since August 17. The second-largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum, fared even worse — after plunging 8% during the U.S. session, it fell to $1,731 on Sunday, a new low since July 9.
Technical Breakdown Triggers a Wave of Liquidations
"I think this is a technical decline: Bitcoin broke below its 200-day moving average around $73,000, which triggered a cascade of liquidations and spawned new short positions," said Rich Rosenblum, co-founder of crypto market maker GSR. In recent weeks, cryptocurrencies have been repeatedly battered by multiple negative factors: rising interest rate expectations, large outflows from U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, risk-averse sentiment stemming from the AI trade, and the aftermath of the recent $6 billion Binance hack. Since October 21, Bitcoin has fallen about 25% in total; its year-to-date low was $57,742 set on July 1.
Liquidation Scale: $1.9 Billion in 24 Hours, Overwhelmingly Longs
Large-scale liquidation events — in which more than $500 million of Bitcoin positions are wiped out within 24 hours — are becoming a recurring feature of the market, with violent swings continuously eliminating leveraged traders. According to Coinglass data, last Friday, Bitcoin's decline triggered the liquidation of about $1.3 billion in long crypto positions within 24 hours, with Bitcoin positions accounting for the majority. In the 24 hours ending at 7 a.m. Singapore time on Sunday, exchanges tracked by Coinglass recorded roughly $1.9 billion in cryptocurrency liquidations, of which Bitcoin accounted for $684 million and Ethereum $466 million — long positions made up the overwhelming majority of the liquidations. It is worth noting that fund outflows are also accelerating: between October 30 and November 13, U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs saw net outflows of nearly $3 billion. However, Rosenblum believes Bitcoin may be approaching a technical bottom: "Over the past year, Bitcoin has found support at or slightly below this level multiple times, and we are approaching the lower edge of a long-term trend channel."
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