Crypto bulls bleed as Bitcoin crashes below $53K

The global crypto market witnessed a widespread drop on Monday, with Bitcoin's price plummeting below the $53,000 mark. BTC's price has fallen by over 21% in the last seven days, marking one of its worst performances since the FTX bankruptcy. This downturn has coincided with a global stock selloff and escalating tensions in the Middle East.

Bitcoin has faced political uncertainties, including Donald Trump and Kamala Harris vying for the US presidency, potential government sales of seized BTC, and supply risks from bankruptcy returns. These factors have weighed on the cryptocurrency since its record high of over $73,500 in March.

Ether's price plummeted to the $2,200 zone after a significant 21% drop in the last 24 hours. Dogecoin (DOGE), the prominent meme crypto, recorded a 15% decline over the same period, dragging down other altcoins. This downturn aligns with a 7% drop in Japan's Nikkei 225 and the worst day for Japanese bank stocks since 2008, following an interest rate hike. The crypto market cap has rapidly declined by $500 billion within three days.

The cumulative crypto market cap has fallen below the critical $2 trillion mark, shrinking by 13% over the last day. It has lost over $200 billion in market cap in the last 24 hours, with the Fear and Greed index now in the "Fear" zone.

According to Coinglass data, over $823 million worth of long and short bets have been liquidated in the past 24 hours. The largest liquidation order occurred on the Huobi crypto exchange for BTC/USD, amounting to $27 million. Approximately 87% of liquidated bets, totaling over $717 million, represented long positions taken by traders. This indicates that market bulls were caught off guard by the crash, likely triggered by geopolitical factors.

Bitcoin's price has fallen by 11% in the last 24 hours, impacting the broader market. BTC has dropped from a high of $69,000 to the $53,000 zone within the last seven days. As of press time, BTC is trading at an average price of $53,991, with its 24-hour trading volume increasing by 86% to $51.8 billion.

Data reveals that approximately $250 million worth of bets on Bitcoin's price were liquidated over the past day. Of these liquidations, over $213 million (85%) represented long positions.

Despite regulatory approvals for spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Bitcoin has declined by 25% in the last 60 days and 16% over the past 90 days. However, Bitcoin is still up by 28% year-to-date.