BTC drop triggers $364M crypto liquidations

TLDR

Bitcoin's latest drop toward the mid 60,000 dollar area triggered a flush of roughly 364 million dollars in leveraged crypto positions, mostly long bets, across major coins.

1. Around 364 million dollars in leveraged positions were liquidated in 24 hours, with Bitcoin and Ethereum longs making up the bulk of the wipeout.
2. The move was driven by heavy leverage, a large options expiry, and a macro risk off backdrop tied to Middle East tensions and ETF outflows.
3. Key signals now are how open interest, funding rates, and support zones around the low 60,000s behave, which will show whether this was a reset or the start of a deeper leg down.

Deep Dive

1. Size And Shape Of The Flush

Derivatives data show over 364 million dollars in leveraged crypto positions were liquidated within 24 hours as prices slid, largely from long side deleveraging rather than shorts being squeezed. Reports put Bitcoin long liquidations at roughly 170 to 190 million dollars and Ethereum around 120 million dollars, with Solana, XRP, Dogecoin and other majors adding tens of millions more in forced long closures. One analysis notes that more than 120,000 traders were affected, underscoring how crowded leveraged longs had become before the drop.

The broader market moved with it: total crypto market cap fell about 1.6 percent over the last day to roughly 2.29 trillion dollars, and perpetual futures open interest dipped slightly but still sits around 400 billion dollars, meaning plenty of leverage remains.

2. Drivers Behind The Selloff

Several overlapping drivers show up in the data and reporting. First, open interest in BTC and ETH perpetuals had climbed recently, signaling leverage had built up while spot demand was more muted, setting the stage for a long squeeze. Second, roughly 14 billion dollars of Bitcoin options expired on Deribit, a quarterly expiry that tends to reshape hedging flows and can pin or pressure price around key levels.

At the same time, macro conditions turned more risk off. Geopolitical tension around the Middle East, higher oil prices, rising bond yields, and a pullback in US spot Bitcoin ETF flows all weighed on risk appetite. One detailed account ties the drop below 67,000 dollars to this combination of geopolitical uncertainty and the large options expiry, which then cascaded into hundreds of millions of dollars of long liquidations.

3. What To Watch Next

Three lenses are useful from here:

1. Leverage metrics: If perpetual open interest and average funding rates continue to decline or normalize around flat, it would suggest the worst of the long squeeze is past. A sharp rebuild in OI without spot strength would raise the risk of another flush.
2. Price levels: On many maps there is a cluster of prior high leverage longs down toward the low 60,000s, so cleanly losing those zones could trigger another wave of forced selling, while fast recoveries back above recently lost support would argue this was mainly a reset.
3. Macro and flows: ETF flows flipping back to net inflows, a cooling of geopolitical risk, or clearer rate expectations could all improve the backdrop, while continued ETF outflows and elevated oil would keep pressure on crypto.

Conclusion

Bitcoins drop and the roughly 364 million dollar liquidation wave reflect a leveraged market meeting a risk off macro and a big options expiry at the same time. The immediate effect was to clear out many crowded long positions, but open interest and macro uncertainty remain high, so how leverage rebuilds or unwinds around the low 60,000s will shape whether this was a healthy reset or the start of a deeper correction.