A wave of forced selling swept through digital asset markets in the last 24 hours, triggering $258 million in total liquidations and impacting 86,954 traders as Bitcoin struggles to hold its ground ahead of a key Federal Reserve decision.
According to data from Coinglass, the liquidations were skewed toward short sellers, with $158 million in short positions liquidated compared to $100 million in longs. This "long-short squeeze" points to a highly volatile and uncertain market, with the largest single liquidation being a $6.65 million ETH-USDT position on the Binance exchange.
The sell-off was concentrated in the market leaders, with Bitcoin seeing $71.23 million in liquidations and Ethereum following with $61.52 million. The move comes as Bitcoin trades in a tight range near $77,000, unable to break the critical $79,000-$83,000 resistance zone. The pressure is amplified by a tense macro environment, with oil prices above $111 a barrel amid geopolitical stress in the Strait of Hormuz and spot Bitcoin ETFs seeing a $263 million outflow on Monday, breaking a nine-day inflow streak.
This deleveraging event resets the landscape as traders await fresh direction from the Federal Reserve's policy meeting, concluding today at 2 PM ET. While on-chain data from Santiment shows large holders have accumulated over 40,000 BTC in the past two weeks, derivatives markets remain on edge. Open Interest remains high at $55.93 billion, suggesting significant capital is still at risk, with a failure to hold the $75,000 support level for Bitcoin potentially opening the door to a deeper correction toward $70,000.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
