Cryptocurrency market witnesses liquidations exceeding 300 million as Bitcoin and altcoins experience sharp decline

Bitcoin’s value plummeted below $61,000 on Monday, signaling a surge in bearish sentiment and resulting in a staggering $320 million in liquidations within just 24 hours.
The inability of the bulls to maintain crucial price levels led to a decline in BTC trading, with today’s drop hinting at a potential slide towards the psychologically significant $60,000 mark.
This downturn was not limited to Bitcoin, as the altcoin market also experienced a bloodbath. Ethereum struggled to stay above $3,300, while Solana, BNB, and XRP all suffered substantial losses. Uniswap and Maker took the biggest hits among the top 50 coins by market cap, plummeting by 12% and 9% respectively.
Liquidations soared to over $320 million in the past day as Bitcoin dipped below $62,000, causing total liquidations in the crypto market to surpass $300 million.
With BTC trading below $61,000 and poised for further declines, leveraged long positions faced over $324 million in liquidations. Long positions accounted for more than $286 million, while shorts amounted to $36 million.
Coinglass data revealed that nearly $132 million of the liquidations were attributed to Bitcoin. Long positions dominated the liquidations, totaling almost $122 million in a 24-hour period, while liquidated short positions stood at approximately $9.9 million. The past 12 hours alone saw over $95 million in liquidated long positions.
Overall, more than 85,440 traders were liquidated within the past 24 hours. The most significant liquidation order within this timeframe, as of 12:30 pm ET on June 24, took place on Binance, resulting in a $15.36 million loss on the BTC/USDT pair.
The sharp decline in Bitcoin’s price on June 24 was triggered by the announcement that the trustee of the bankrupt Mt. Gox crypto exchange would begin repayments to creditors in July. With over $9 billion in BTC held by the defunct exchange set for distribution, investors reacted swiftly to the news, causing a sell-off.
Bitcoin’s price dropped by more than 5% following the announcement, breaching key support levels as concerns about potential selling pressure loomed over the market. Additionally, recent reports of a wallet associated with the German government selling a significant amount of BTC further exacerbated the downward pressure.
Earlier this year, German authorities confiscated close to 50,000 BTC valued at approximately $2.1 billion at the time. The recent surge in Bitcoin’s value pushed the total worth of the coins to over $3 billion. However, data from Arkham Intelligence indicated that the wallet linked to the German government had recently offloaded a substantial quantity of BTC, likely contributing to the market sell-off.
Moreover, miners have also been selling off a considerable portion of Bitcoin, with data from IntoTheBlock showing approximately 30,000 BTC sold post-halving.