Markets
Bitcoin Falls as Whale Sells 3,500 BTC, $310 Million Liquidated in 24 Hours
Bitcoin continues to experience significant volatility, extending a downward trend that began last month.
According to data from CryptoSlate, the price of Bitcoin has fallen by around 6% in the past 24 hours, breaking through the $58,000 mark and falling as low as $56,900.
Market watchers have warned that if the strong selling activity continues, this decline could be a precursor to a drop in the flagship digital asset’s price below $50,000. Earlier today, blockchain analyst Lookonchain identified a whale that sold 3,500 BTC for $206 million in five hours via the Binance exchange.
Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research, noted that buying activity has decreased as selling pressure increases. He noted that Bitcoin has broken through crucial technical and psychological levels at $60,000, a key point for miners and spot ETF buyers. This is notably the bottom of its three-month trading range.
Thielen added:
“The price decline could accelerate as support is broken and sellers scramble for liquidity. Only uninformed traders are willing to buy here. A break of this support could lead to a sharp decline to $50,000.”
Some observers attribute the price decline to low market liquidity and concerns about the impending Mt. Gox BTC payout, which distribute about $9 billion Bitcoin value to creditors. Additionally, cryptocurrency exchange BloFin also released a research note warning of a high downside risk for Bitcoin, mainly if an unexpected event occurs.
$310 million liquidated
Bitcoin’s decline has led to substantial losses for cryptocurrency traders speculating on market movements.
According to Coinglass dataMore than 110,000 traders lost about $310 million in the past 24 hours, most of which came from long traders.
Bitcoin traders were hit the hardest, with $94 million in losses, including $82 million from long trades and $12 million from short trades. Ethereum wasn’t far behind, with liquidations reaching around $72 million.
The largest liquidation took place on HTX (formerly Huobi), involving a $10 million long position in the leading crypto asset.