Bitcoin and Ether Slide 7% as Investor Fear Builds and Liquidations Accelerate

Crypto markets pushed deeper into the red as heavy derivatives liquidations and intensifying macro pressures weighed on sentiment, with traders increasingly focused on whether bitcoin can stabilize below key support levels.

Bitcoin (BTC) fell more than 7% over the past 24 hours to hover near $70,000, while ether (ETH) slid to around $2,095, extending a broad-based sell-off across digital assets. Investor anxiety spiked as the Crypto Fear and Greed Index dropped to 11 — its lowest level of the year — signaling extreme risk aversion.

“Bitcoin is back in a price zone that repeatedly capped rallies for much of 2024, which helps explain the renewed interest from dip buyers,” said Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FxPro. He warned, however, that historical precedents remain cautionary. “During a comparable phase in May 2022, a sharp sell-off was followed by weeks of consolidation before prices ultimately moved lower,” he said.

According to Bitget’s chief market analyst, forced selling in derivatives markets magnified losses as leveraged positions were unwound, compressing price action across major tokens. At the same time, geopolitical tensions and uncertainty around global interest-rate paths have reinforced a risk-off backdrop, dampening demand for higher-beta assets such as XRP.

Traditional market dynamics added to the strain. Oil prices remained volatile as traders priced in the risk of escalating U.S.–Iran tensions, a scenario that could fuel inflation and further complicate the outlook for crypto bulls.

Derivatives positioning

Capital continued to flow out of crypto futures markets, with cumulative notional open interest sliding to about $103 billion. Margin pressures triggered widespread forced liquidations, with more than $800 million in leveraged positions closed over the past 24 hours. Losses could accelerate after bitcoin slipped below the closely watched $70,000 threshold.

Despite the liquidation wave, longer-dated sentiment has not fully capitulated. Ninety-day bitcoin futures remain priced at a premium to spot — a condition that typically fades near major market bottoms. Open interest rose in a small group of tokens, including XAUT, LINK, TRX and PEPE, even as broader positioning declined.

Perpetual funding rates for several altcoins turned negative, reflecting growing demand for bearish exposure. Options markets echoed the stress: on Deribit, near-term bitcoin and ether put options traded at premiums exceeding 10 points over calls. Large, privately negotiated bitcoin trades continued to favor downside strategies such as put spreads.

Token talk

Altcoins broadly tracked bitcoin lower during Asia and European trading hours. Privacy-focused tokens monero (XMR) and zcash (ZEC) each fell as much as 7%.

XRP underperformed the market, sliding more than 10% overnight as roughly $30 million in liquidations hit the token. The sell-off intensified around 09:00 UTC, when prices dropped from $1.44 to $1.35.

Derivatives exchange token MYX stood out as a rare bright spot, rising 4% on the day and extending its year-to-date gain to 56%.

The bitcoin-heavy CoinDesk 20 (CD20) Index declined 8.34% over the past 24 hours, underperforming the altcoin-focused CoinDesk 80 (CD80), which fell 5.92%. Several altcoins are now exhibiting entrenched downtrend structures — marked by lower highs and lower lows — not seen since the 2022 bear market.