Bitcoin tanks, altcoins bleed: Nearly $2 billion wiped out in liquidation frenzy

Global Crypto Market Slumps as Bitcoin Sell-Off Casts Pall

The global digital assets market has plummeted over 5% as Bitcoin (BTC) has experienced a significant sell-off in the past 24 hours. After reaching a record high of $103,800 following the US presidential election, Bitcoin has struggled to sustain six-figure levels, with the crypto market shedding approximately $200 billion overnight.

This downturn has extended beyond BTC, with smaller cryptocurrencies also experiencing sharp declines of up to 15%, marking one of the steepest intraday losses of the year. Despite this, the fear and greed index still indicates "Extreme Greed," with the cumulative crypto market capitalization standing at $3.46 trillion and a trading volume of $350 billion.

Macroeconomic Concerns Converge with BTC Volatility

Data from Coinglass reveals that over 580,000 traders have been liquidated in the past 24 hours, resulting in a total liquidation value of $1.76 billion. The largest single liquidation position was recorded on Binance, with a value of $19.69 million in ETH/USDT.

Approximately 90% of the liquidated positions, valued at over $1.6 billion, represented long bets, indicating investors' optimism about the continuation of the bullish trend.

This market retraction coincides with the upcoming release of US inflation data. Concerns about potential macroeconomic scenarios combined with BTC's recent volatility have created a challenging environment for traders.

Bitcoin's Decline Raises Concerns

Bitcoin's price has plummeted by over 4%, reaching the lower $95,000 range, triggering panic in the market. Data shows that over $178 million worth of long and short bets have been liquidated in the past 24 hours, with long bets accounting for over $142 million (80%). This suggests that traders were anticipating BTC's continued bullish momentum but were thwarted by the sudden reversal.

Despite the recent dip, BTC remains up by 120% year-to-date and is trading at an average price of $97,455 at the time of writing, with a 24-hour trading volume of $116.2 billion.

Trump-Fueled Rally Dwindles

Speculation surrounding Donald Trump's pro-crypto agenda after his election victory sparked a surge in the crypto market. However, the notorious volatility of cryptocurrencies has led to rapid selloffs. Trump's stance on crypto has attracted investors, with $10 billion flowing into US spot-Bitcoin ETFs since his election.

Ripple's XRP has been among the biggest losers today. After a period of solid gains, XRP's price has dropped by over 10% in the past 24 hours and is down 18% over the past week. At the time of writing, XRP is trading at an average price of $2.24.

Meme tokens such as Dogecoin (DOGE) and smaller assets have fared even worse, potentially indicating broader weakness in the sector. DOGE's price has declined by 6% in the past 24 hours, while SHIB has lost 12%.

Critics have expressed concerns about the risks associated with widespread crypto adoption under Trump, including potential market manipulation and regulatory uncertainty.