Bitcoin’s price dropped below $69,000 on Friday, marking a significant decline as the U.S. dollar index (DXY) reached a 19-month high. The slide wiped out approximately $1.6 billion in crypto bets, with Bitcoin accounting for $915 million of the liquidations. The dollar index climbed to around 103.17, its highest level since April 2025, which often weighs on risk assets like Bitcoin.
The decline pushed Bitcoin below its 200-week moving average, a long-term trend indicator that traders monitor as a potential support level. Ethereum, Solana, and XRP also dropped but took a smaller hit than Bitcoin in the last 24 hours. Ethereum fell 3.5%, Solana dropped 2.4%, and XRP tumbled around 1.8%. Retail sentiment around these cryptocurrencies trended in the ‘bearish’ zone over the past day.
According to MN Fund founder and crypto analyst Michael van de Poppe, a potential bounce in Bitcoin could start a fresh rally for altcoins. ‘The ones that have been running in August will be the ones taking off again. Fun times are ahead,’ he wrote in a post on X. Bitcoin’s price fell over 5% in the last 25 hours, trading at around $68,900 at the time of writing.
CoinGlass data showed that around $1.6 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours, with long positions making up around $1.44 billion. The largest single liquidation was a $31.09 million Bitcoin long position on Hyperliquid, closed at $72,250.