Bitcoin briefly dipped under $80,000 on Thursday, dragging Ethereum below $2,300 and wiping out more than $90 billion from the combined crypto market cap in a sharp move driven by internal market dynamics, not broader macro jitters. The slide triggered roughly $331 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours, with nearly $100 million of that concentrated in a two-hour window.
Profit-taking hits a new high
The culprit wasn't a surprise Fed move or a stock-market sell-off — the S&P 500 and NASDAQ both hovered near record highs during the same period. Instead, on-chain data pointed to a surge in profit-taking by short-term holders. On May 4, 14,600 Bitcoin were sold at a profit, the highest single-day count since December 2025. The Short-Term Holder SOPR, a metric that measures whether recent buyers are selling at a gain, hit 1.016 and has stayed above 1.0 since mid-April — a sign that a wave of recent buyers has been cashing out.
Leverage gets flushed
The sell-off accelerated as over-leveraged positions got wiped out. Across all exchanges, roughly $331 million in longs and shorts were liquidated in the past day, with the fastest cascade happening inside a two-hour window where almost $100 million in positions got taken out. The action suggests the market was top-heavy with leverage, and the profit-taking provided the spark.
Large holders stay patient
Not everyone is rushing for the exits. Data from large-holder deposits — often a precursor to big sell orders — remains relatively muted. That suggests major players are sitting on their hands, watching the same resistance zone everyone else is watching.
Where Bitcoin sits now
Bitcoin is trading near $80,200, just below a resistance band between $80,000 and $82,000 that has held for days. The 50-day and 100-day moving averages have turned upward and are providing dynamic support in the $72,000–$75,000 range. But the 200-day moving average is still sloping downward above price, reinforcing that $80,000–$82,000 is a critical supply zone. If Bitcoin clears $82,000, the move likely continues. If it gets rejected again, the next floors to watch are $75,000 and then $70,000.
