BTC liquidations spike as extreme fear persists

TLDR

Bitcoin is seeing elevated derivatives liquidations while sentiment stays in Extreme Fear, pointing to a stressed but still highly leveraged market.

1. BTC liquidations have surged again after several billion dollars were wiped out last week, with daily liquidations still near the hundred?million dollar range.
2. Fear & Greed and social data show persistent extreme fear, yet derivatives open interest and modestly positive funding suggest leverage remains in the system.
3. The key things to watch are BTCs high 5060k zone, open interest trends, and ETF/treasury flows that could either deepen or relieve the selling pressure.

Deep Dive

1. Size Of The Liquidation Spike

Recent sessions saw some of the largest liquidation waves of 2026, with about $657 million on June 24 and $1.4 billion on June 25 in leveraged crypto positions, according to one breakdown of the downturn in Bitcoin and ETFs, placing those days among the years biggest liquidation events. That shock has cooled but not disappeared: current data shows around $97.27 M in Bitcoin liquidations over the last 24 hours, up 21.5% from the prior day, and about $1.28 B over 7 days.

Other market trackers report nearly $250 M liquidated across crypto in the most recent 24?hour window, with around $183 M in long positions alone erased, underscoring that forced selling is still reshaping positioning in this range. Overall crypto market cap is down about 1.14% over 24 hours to roughly $2.05 T, showing broad stress rather than an isolated BTC move.

2. Fear, Sentiment And Positioning

CoinMarketCaps Crypto Fear & Greed Index currently reads Extreme fear with an index around the high teens, similar to the 1618 readings highlighted in recent coverage of Bitcoins slide below $60,000, and notably lower than Fear levels near 31 seen a month ago. On X, aggregate net sentiment over the last 24 hours sits around 4.84 on a 010 scale, which is slightly bearish to neutral rather than outright panic.

Leverage metrics paint a different picture. Perpetuals open interest has climbed about 3.18% in 24 hours to roughly 417 B, and average funding rates are modestly positive. That combination (extreme fear plus rising open interest) suggests many traders are still running leveraged strategies in a nervous tape rather than having fully de?risked.

3. What To Watch Next

Macro and structural flows are amplifying the risk. Spot Bitcoin ETFs have seen multi?billion dollar outflows over June and some analysts now frame this month as Bitcoins worst since June 2022, with talk of potential downside toward the 4045k area if stress persists. Corporate treasuries and large holders have also introduced new frameworks that allow BTC sales for liquidity, adding an overhang even if no large block has hit yet.

Practically, the key indicators to watch are:

1. Price relative to the 5760k zone that recent analyses flagged as critical support.
2. Whether open interest and funding start to fall sharply, signaling genuine deleveraging.
3. Ongoing ETF flows and any large treasury or exchange?wallet movements that could front?run new liquidation waves.

Conclusion

Bitcoins latest liquidation spike fits into a broader pattern of a fearful market that has not fully flushed leverage. As long as open interest and ETF outflows stay elevated near key support zones, the setup remains fragile, with further forced selling or short?squeeze rallies both on the table.