BTC plunge triggers over $1.6B crypto liquidations

TLDR

Bitcoin's drop toward 61,000 dollars has triggered one of the largest leveraged wipeouts in the current cycle, with around 1.6 billion dollars of crypto positions liquidated in 24 hours.

1. Data show roughly 1.6 to 1.8 billion in liquidations, mostly long BTC and ETH bets, as BTC fell from above 67,000 toward 61,000 in just a few days.
2. High leverage, crowded long positioning, persistent spot BTC ETF outflows, and risk off macro sentiment combined to turn a normal dip into a cascading long squeeze.
3. Key things to watch now are support near 60,000, whether ETF outflows and exchange inflows slow, and if funding and open interest reset to healthier levels.

Deep Dive

1. Scale Of The Liquidations

Several trackers report that as Bitcoin (BTC) slid from above 67,000 to around 61,000, total crypto liquidations over 24 hours reached about 1.6 billion dollars, mostly on the long side. One detailed breakdown puts liquidations at roughly 1.61 billion dollars, with about 1.35 billion from longs, and more than 270,000 traders forced out of positions.

BTC accounts for the bulk of the damage, with around 730 to 740 million dollars in BTC long liquidations and hundreds of millions more in Ethereum (ETH) longs plus tens of millions in Solana (SOL) and other large caps. Market-wide derivatives data show BTC liquidations near 670 million dollars in 24 hours, consistent with that aggregate.

At the same time, total crypto market capitalization fell about 3 percent on the day, to roughly 2.2 trillion dollars, while perpetual futures open interest dropped about 6 percent, confirming a broad de?leveraging rather than a spot-only move.

2. Why The Long Squeeze Was So Violent

Before the drop, leverage had built up to levels last seen before the October 2025 crash. One analysis notes that BTC futures and perpetual leverage ratios hit multi?month highs, so once price started slipping, forced selling cascaded into about 1.8 billion in liquidations and over 272,000 traders flushed.

This sat on top of persistent institutional selling. Spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States have seen a multiweek run of net redemptions; one report highlights that nearly 400 million dollars left US spot BTC ETFs in a single day and around 4 billion dollars over three weeks. That forces issuers to sell underlying BTC into weakness.

Macro and sentiment added pressure. Renewed geopolitical tensions, rotation into AI and traditional equities, and a sharp slide in sentiment indexes into fear mean there was little dip?buying liquidity when the cascade hit.

3. Key Levels And Signals To Watch

On the chart, many analysts are treating the 60,000 to 61,000 dollar area as a major support zone and a rough proxy for long term moving averages that held previous cycle drawdowns. A clean break and close well below that region could open the door to deeper downside, while holding it and stabilizing would support a consolidation phase.

Structurally, three things matter more than any single price tick:

1. ETF flows turning from heavy outflows toward flat or modest inflows.
2. Exchange BTC inflows cooling after the spike that accompanied this selloff.
3. Perpetual open interest and funding staying suppressed instead of immediately re?leveraging.

If ETF redemptions continue, exchange reserves keep rising, and leverage ramps back up quickly, another liquidation wave is very possible even if prices temporarily bounce.

Conclusion

Bitcoins plunge and the roughly 1.6 billion dollar liquidation spike reflect a classic leverage unwind in a market already under institutional and macro pressure, not a random flash crash. Whether this becomes a durable bottom or just one step in a larger downtrend will depend on how ETF flows, on?chain supply to exchanges, and derivatives leverage evolve around the 60,000 dollar zone in the coming days and weeks.