Tech
Bitcoin Falls to $64K as US Tech Selloff Impacts Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin (BTC) fell more than 3% in early Asian trading, driven by a broader stock market sell-off and a decline in sentiment for risk assets like cryptocurrencies.
BTC has plunged from over $65,500 to around $64,000 in a matter of minutes as trading began in Tokyo. The sharp decline has led to the liquidation of over $250 million in bullish bets, marking the worst impact since early July, News.Az reports citing foreign media.
Liquidations occur when exchanges forcefully close a trader’s leveraged position due to a loss of initial margin. This data helps traders see leverage removed from popular futures products, serving as a short-term indicator of reduced price volatility.
The CoinDesk 20 (CD20), an index that tracks the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization (excluding stablecoins), also saw a 3.3% decline.
Ether (ETH) longs lost the most, falling to $100 million, as the token plunged 7.5% due to outflows from the newly launched ETH ETF.
Binance saw the highest liquidations among exchanges, totaling $118 million, of which 88% were long trades.
OKX and Huobi, popular among Asia-based traders, saw 94% of long traders on their exchanges liquidate.
The plunge came as U.S. technology stocks took a beating on Wednesday, sending the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index down 660 points, its biggest drop since 2022.