Bitcoin falls below $81,000 as $480M in positions liquidated in an hour
Macro & Markets ·
A fresh slide tied to a US government crypto transfer pushed Bitcoin to its lowest level since September 21 and triggered a wave of forced selling across the market.
Bitcoin's price broke under the $81,000 mark for the first time since September 21, a level it had not touched since breaking out above that range, according to CryptoPotato. The drop coincided with a new transfer of Bitcoin from the US government, pushing more than $480 million in positions into liquidation within a single hour, the bulk of it long bets that had wagered on prices rising.
The move follows a separate episode a day earlier in which the price fell by $2,000 in just 20 minutes after the US government moved part of its crypto holdings to Coinbase Prime. That earlier shock had briefly dragged Bitcoin under $84,000, where it stabilized for several hours before the latest transfer renewed the selling pressure and sent it under $81,000.
The damage extended beyond Bitcoin. Ether, which had traded above $2,700 as recently as 48 hours before the latest drop, slid to $2,450, while XRP was turned back at $1.50 and fell to $1.34. Other tokens including SOL, HYPE, and DOGE also posted notable losses as the selloff spread across the altcoin market.
Across the full 24-hour window, liquidations climbed to nearly $900 million, with more than 150,000 traders affected, almost entirely on the long side of the market, per data cited in the report. The scale of the losses underscores how concentrated leveraged positioning had become heading into the decline.
What remains unclear is the size and timing of further US government crypto transfers and whether additional transfers could extend the current slide. The report does not specify how much of the government's holdings have already moved to Coinbase Prime or what remains, leaving the near-term trajectory of the market an open question.