Bitcoin dropped 7% to $65,300 in early Asian trading on Saturday, then recovered slightly to around $66,500 — still 47% below its October peak. Ether fell 7% to $1,850, its lowest in four months. The broader crypto market shed $140 billion, bringing total market cap to $2.37 trillion, its lowest since early April.
The numbers behind the slide
Over 24 hours, 265,000 traders were liquidated, totaling $1.63 billion. Long positions accounted for 89% of those liquidations, primarily in Bitcoin and Ethereum, according to CoinGlass. The single largest liquidation was a $45 million order on Binance.
Whale exodus vs. micro buying
On-chain data from Santiment shows that Bitcoin whales and sharks — entities holding between 10 and 10,000 BTC — sold 24,602 BTC over the past week. In contrast, micro traders with under 0.01 BTC accumulated just 61 BTC. The disparity highlights a lack of buying support from retail investors.
Extreme fear and the Saylor factor
Santiment described market sentiment as “extreme fear mode” among average traders and pointed to Michael Saylor’s Strategy as a “prime initiator” of the selloff. Strategy, the enterprise software firm turned Bitcoin treasury company, has been offloading coins to raise cash, adding pressure on prices.
Warnings of more pain ahead
Joao Wedson, founder of analytics firm Alphractal, warned that liquidation levels sitting below current prices could trigger a cascade if Bitcoin dips further. “If those levels are hit, the next leg down could accelerate,” he said. Bitcoin author Adam Livingston called the daily price action a “real puke candle,” a term traders use for a sharp, panicked selloff. Peter Schiff, a longtime Bitcoin skeptic, predicted a fall below $20,000 if Bitcoin breaks $50,000, arguing that long-term holders would then capitulate.
Whether the liquidation cascade materializes remains the open question as markets brace for another volatile week.
