Nearly $500M Liquidated In Crypto Markets as Bitcoin Drops Below $65K — Analyst Notes Post-Halving Pattern

The cryptocurrency market has seen $479 million in liquidations in the last 24 hours after massive price drops in Bitcoin and altcoins. 

The global crypto market cap is down 2.7% to $2.35 trillion. All the top 20 largest cryptos by market cap are trading in the red, apart from XRP, which has seen a minor 0.6% gain. The dip has seen $414M worth of longs and $61M worth of shorts liquidated, according to Coinglass data.

Crypto Market Bleeds Triggering Nearly $500M in Liquidations

On Monday, Bitcoin dropped below $65,000, wiping out recent gains and wrecking $49M in long positions. BTC has recovered slightly to trade at $65,665 on June 18 at 02:09 a.m. EST.

Ether has not been spared and is down 3.3%. The largest altcoin appears to have taken the biggest hit in liquidations, with $93M wiped out.

Dogecoin (DOGE) derivative traders also suffered, with $60M wiped out after the price dipped by 9%. Solana and Shiba Inu have been among the hardest hit, with 10% and 8% price drops, respectively. SHIB saw $22M in liquidations, while SOL recorded $19M.

Bitcoin is Following Past Post-Halving Trends

According to Rekt Capital, Bitcoin’s recent price drop mimics what has been seen during past post-halving cycles. With the Bitcoin halving happening around two months ago, BTC’s price was set to correct before positioning for a steady uptrend, as seen in past years.

#BTC

We are two months after the Bitcoin Halving

Current price action is comparable to previous 60-day Post-Halving periods$BTC #Crypto #Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/AWZxx5A5bc

— Rekt Capital (@rektcapital) June 17, 2024

The analysis comes after a report by 10X Research that revealed Bitcoin miners have started selling their holdings. However, according to the digital asset firm, it was surprising that outflows from Bitcoin and related investment products continued to increase despite weak US inflation data.

Last week, the US Labor Department reported May inflation at 3.3%, slightly below expectations. With weakening US inflation, risk assets such as crypto are poised to rally due to increased chances of rate cuts. However, this reaction has not been seen with crypto assets. 

As for altcoins, 10X Research attributes the dip to speculative trading around the news of spot Ether ETFs debuting in early July. Additionally, venture capital (VC) firms appear to be cashing out, given last week’s $483M token unlocks.

Despite the bearish sentiment, some metrics point towards a potential trend reversal. According to Coinglass, funding rates have turned slightly positive, indicating bullish momentum is building up.