More than $1 billion in crypto positions were liquidated in the past 24 hours as a broad sell-off sent Bitcoin from above $109,000 toward $105,000, with intraday prints near $104,700 on some venues.
The move follows a failed attempt by BTC to reclaim the $116,000–$123,000 resistance zone earlier in the week. Technicians now flag $104,000 as first defense and $100,000 as the next major support, while a push back above $112,000–$114,000 could stabilize price action.
Altcoins lagged as capital rotated toward Bitcoin and stablecoins during the broader risk-off move. The most significant single liquidation occurred on HYPE, where an ETH-USD position worth $20 million was force-closed amid cascading margin calls.
BNB fell double digits from recent highs; XRP slid toward $2.20 as open interest fell from $9 billion to $3.5 billion following a $610 million liquidation event, even as Volatility Shares filed for a 5x leveraged XRP ETF. Meme coins were hit hardest as on-chain data show aggressive de-risking and reduced spot depth.
Machi Big Brother saw a string of ETH long liquidations (one block of 206 ETH, $787,000) as price slipped below $3,800. Tracking services note Machi’s cumulative drawdowns now far exceed earlier gains, an object lesson in the dangers of high leverage during volatility spikes.
Short term, traders are focused on:
Macro headlines (tariff rhetoric, growth data, and the U.S. government shutdown’s knock-on effects) remain the wild card.
If BTC holds $104,000 and ETFs flip back to net inflows, a range rebuild is likely; lose it, and the market’s gaze shifts to the psychological $100,000 round number with wider collateral effects across altcoins.
Cover image from ChatGPT, BTCUSD chart from Tradingview
