Crypto markets plunged 4.9% — a staggering $140 billion wiped out in the past 24 hours — bringing total market capitalization down to $2.37 trillion, the lowest level since early April.
In the same period, 265,000 traders were liquidated, with total liquidations reaching $1.63 billion, according to Coinglass. Roughly 89% of those liquidations were long positions, concentrated mostly in Bitcoin and Ethereum.
“Liquidation levels below the current price are likely to hit many traders in the next hours,” said Joao Wedson, founder of Alphractal.
“When price starts accelerating toward these zones, cascading orders can trigger across dozens of exchanges at the same time.”
Key Stakeholders Offloading
Analysts attribute the recent slide — especially Bitcoin’s steep decline over the past week — largely to selling by major stakeholders. On Wednesday, on-chain analytics firm Santiment noted that larger holders have been offloading significant amounts of Bitcoin.
Whales and “sharks” holding between 10 and 10,000 BTC sold 24,602 BTC during the past week, while micro traders holding under 0.01 BTC accumulated only 61 BTC in the same timeframe. Social sentiment indicators show retail traders are in “extreme fear” after prices hit their lowest levels since April 5, and Santiment flagged Michael Saylor’s firm selling as a notable catalyst.
Gold proponent Peter Schiff commented that there is “way too much complacency in Bitcoin for the market to be anywhere near a bottom.” He warned that if Bitcoin breaks $50,000, it could quickly fall below $20,000, a drop he believes would shake long-term holders and prompt many to capitulate.
“When Bitcoin breaks $50K, it should be a quick fall below $20K, which should be a big enough drop to shake the conviction of long-term HODLers, causing many to finally throw in the towel.”
Bitcoin author Adam Livingston described the daily sell-off as “a real puke candle,” suggesting it’s the kind of move that makes retail traders desperate for intervention from policymakers.
BTC Tanks to $66K, ETH at Four-Month Low
Bitcoin plunged about 6% on the day, sliding to roughly $65,300 in early Asian trading on Wednesday before stabilizing around $66,500 at the time of writing — still about 47% below its October peak.
Ethereum suffered an even larger daily decline, falling approximately 7% to $1,850, its weakest level in four months. Market analysts had warned that a deeper drawdown was possible, and this week’s moves are beginning to reflect that risk.