Bitcoin took a sharp turn lower this week, plunging below $77,000 for the first time in weeks. The move liquidated over $660 million in leveraged positions across major exchanges, a chunk of it from traders who had bet heavily on higher prices. The selloff came without an obvious catalyst — no exchange hack, no regulatory bombshell — just a sudden cascade of stop-losses and margin calls that caught a market full of bulls leaning the wrong way.
The $660 million wipeout
Liquidation data from the past 24 hours shows that long traders took the brunt of the damage. Over $550 million of the total liquidations came from long positions, according to figures circulating among analysts on Monday. That makes it one of the larger single-day liquidation events this year, though not quite a record. The sheer speed of the drop — Bitcoin lost nearly $4,000 in under an hour — meant that many traders had little time to react or adjust leverage.
What caught traders off guard
The market had been overwhelmingly bullish entering the week. Funding rates on perpetual futures were elevated, and open interest had climbed steadily over the prior two weeks. That positioning turned into a trap when the price broke below the $80,000 support level that many had assumed would hold. Once $80,000 gave way, the next leg down accelerated quickly as automated sell orders kicked in. Traders who had piled into leveraged longs expecting a push higher instead found themselves facing forced liquidations at exactly the wrong moment.
What happens next
As of Monday afternoon, Bitcoin was hovering just above $76,500, with order book data showing a cluster of bids around $75,000. The question hanging over the market now is whether the liquidation cascade has run its course or if more stops sit below the current range. The weekend's action also reset funding rates back to neutral, which could reduce the risk of another short-squeeze driven blow-off. For now, traders are watching whether the $75,000 zone holds — and whether the same leveraged crowd that got burned will try to rebuild longs or step aside.
