Bitcoin (BTC) tests $60K triggering hundreds of millions in liquidation

Bitcoin (BTC), the leading cryptocurrency, witnessed a significant downturn in its price, dropping to around $60,000 earlier today, triggering liquidations worth hundreds of millions across the crypto market.

This comes amidst a broader decline in the cryptocurrency market, with major cryptocurrencies experiencing losses over the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin price slump amid significant ETF outflows

Bitcoin's price dipped to its lowest point in the past 24 hours, falling to $60,807.79 before attempting to stabilize above the $62,000 support zone.

At press time BTC was trading at $63,169.20, after a decline of 1.13% in the last 24 hours, reflecting increased selling pressure in the market.

Although there are signs of trying to maintain above $63k, the drop in Bitcoin's price coincided with significant outflows from Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), exacerbating the downward pressure on its price.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs saw the largest overall fund outflow since their debut, with U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs experiencing $326.2 million in net outflows on Tuesday alone.

Grayscale's GBTC alone saw a staggering $444 million exit the fund, bringing the total outflows from the Grayscale ETF to about $12 billion since January.

 This suggests a shift in investor sentiment or strategy, potentially reallocating funds to other assets or investment opportunities.

Bitcoin (BTC) lead in crypto liquidations

As Bitcoin's price plummeted, liquidations across the crypto market surged, with traders facing significant losses. In the past 24 hours, a total of $560.58 million in liquidations were recorded, affecting a staggering 142,526 traders.

The largest single liquidation order occurred on the OKX exchange, where a trader was liquidated for $12.25 million in the BTC-USDT-SWAP market.

Among the cryptocurrencies facing liquidations, Bitcoin (BTC) accounted for the largest portion, with liquidations totalling $211.15 million.

Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL) followed, with liquidations amounting to $144.24 million and $42.27 million, respectively.

The remaining liquidations were spread across various other cryptocurrencies, reflecting the widespread impact of the market downturn.

Exchanges also played a significant role in the liquidation process, with Binance, OKX, and Huobi leading the pack in terms of total liquidations.

Binance recorded $40.20 million in liquidations, followed closely by OKX with $32.19 million. These exchanges forcefully closed leveraged positions as traders failed to meet margin requirements, resulting in partial or total losses of their initial margin.

Overall, the recent drop in the price of Bitcoin (BTC) and subsequent liquidations underscore the inherent volatility and risk in the cryptocurrency market, seeing it’s just a few days ago that Bitcoin was flying as it crossed the $73k mark.