$412 Million Liquidated as Bitcoin Falls Below $100,000
Bitcoin's rapid decline below $100,000 has resulted in a loss of $412 million in leveraged positions within 24 hours, causing panic among traders. This downturn is a significant moment for investors who expected stability at this price point.
Data from CoinGlass shows that over 79.57% of liquidations affected long positions, with platforms like Binance, OKX, KuCoin, and Bybit reporting substantial losses.
A Market Meltdown
The liquidations impacted 161,442 traders, with Bitcoin (BTC) accounting for approximately 12.62% or $52 million of the total. The fallout extended to Ethereum (ETH), which experienced $46 million in liquidations primarily from long traders anticipating price increases.
On December 6, Ethereum briefly crossed the $4,000 mark for the first time since March 2024 but remains below its all-time high of $4,878 reached in November 2021.
Other cryptocurrencies, including Ripple's XRP, Cardano (ADA), and Dogecoin (DOGE), collectively faced $108.02 million in liquidations.
What Went Wrong
The market turmoil originated from geopolitical uncertainty following South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's announcement of martial law on December 3, citing threats from North Korea. This led to a 30% drop in Bitcoin's price against the South Korean won on exchanges like Upbit, pushing global prices down to $96,000.
The martial law declaration was later rescinded after a parliamentary vote, alleviating some political tensions; however, the damage to market confidence had already occurred. Compounding factors included rising US Treasury yields and fears of regulatory crackdowns, triggering a market-wide sell-off that disproportionately affected leveraged traders as cascading liquidations exacerbated the situation.