Bitcoin Price Falls Below $76K as Liquidations Hit $342M

TLDR Bitcoin fell below $76,000 after $342 million in leveraged positions were liquidated within 24 hours. Most of the liquidations came from long positions as traders lost $270.3 million during the sudden decline. CryptoQuant linked the Bitcoin price drop to derivatives market pressure rather than spot demand weakness. Open interest rose to $25.1 billion, which increased the risk of volatility during the pullback. Bitcoin held above the $73,000 support level despite the rapid market sell-off. Bitcoin fell sharply below $76,000 after days of steady gains and erased recent upward momentum. The asset traded near $75,800 at press time and recorded a 2.5% daily loss. CryptoQuant attributed the sudden reversal to forced liquidations across derivatives markets rather than spot demand shifts. Bitcoin Price Drop Tied to Derivatives Liquidations Bitcoin slid nearly 4% from its weekly high of $79,500 within two days and extended losses through Monday. Data showed that traders liquidated $342 million in positions over 24 hours, including $270.3 million in long bets and $71.7 million in short bets. CryptoQuant cited research from XWIN Japan to explain the rapid decline. The firm stated that “a sudden unwind of leveraged positions” drove the move instead of traditional supply-demand pressure. The report added that forced closures accelerated selling as exchanges hit margin thresholds. The liquidation wave started over the weekend when liquidity thinned across major platforms. During that period, institutional desks reduced activity, and order books showed less depth. As a result, even limited selling pressure pushed prices lower and triggered automated liquidations. Exchanges closed overleveraged long positions once prices breached key levels. This process added fresh sell orders and intensified downward pressure. The Bitcoin price failed to recover quickly because buying interest did not offset the forced selling. CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju earlier warned about derivative-l...