Bitcoin Dips Below $84,000 Amid Surge in Crypto Liquidations
Bitcoin (BTC) briefly dipped below $84,000 on Tuesday, touching a low of around $83,800 late in the day. The decline came amid a surge in crypto long liquidations, which totaled $555.6 million over the past 24 hours, with $487.2 million of those being long positions, according to CoinGlass data. Within the past four hours, liquidations spiked to $429.8 million, with roughly $415.3 million in longs.
The world's largest cryptocurrency fell 1.7% over the past 24 hours, trading at $84,071 as of 11:20 p.m. ET Tuesday. Ethereum (ETH) also saw a decline, dropping 3.3% to $2,612. Liquidations occur when a trader's positions are forcibly closed due to significant losses or insufficient margin.
Analyst Dominick John of Zeus Research attributed Bitcoin's pullback to profit-taking and forced long liquidations. He noted that the market was vulnerable to deleveraging following a build-up in open interest and funding rates. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index stood at 62, indicating "greed," down from 67 a day earlier, which added to the downside pressure.
Despite the recent decline, Jeff Ko, chief analyst of ViaBTC, highlighted that Bitcoin closed Q3 up roughly 40%, alongside $6.5 billion of spot ETF inflows. Ko suggested that if the $82,000-$83,000 area continues to hold, the current price action could be seen as a constructive consolidation following the September breakout.