Bitcoin’s volatile Tuesday sees rebound from 14-month low and $740M wiped out in liquidations

Bitcoin’s struggle to sustain a rebound could signal a challenging period ahead, one analyst warned, after the cryptocurrency endured a violent bout of volatility on Tuesday.

The largest digital asset sank to a 14-month low before staging a sharp recovery as turbulence in the tech sector rippled through global markets. Bitcoin fell to $72,900 in early U.S. trading—its lowest level since November 2024, when Donald Trump secured the presidency—before rebounding roughly 5% to around $76,800. The rally later lost steam.

Ether mirrored the move, climbing as much as 10% from its session low to trade above $2,300 before giving back part of the advance, according to CoinDesk data.

The rebound coincided with news that U.S. lawmakers had reached a deal to end the partial government shutdown, offering short-term relief for risk assets. Market sentiment was further supported by comments from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who appeared on CNBC and dismissed speculation about tensions between Nvidia and OpenAI.

“There’s no controversy at all. It’s complete nonsense,” Huang said, reiterating Nvidia’s intention to participate in OpenAI’s next funding round. His remarks helped calm investor nerves amid growing concerns over the stability of OpenAI, a key driver of the AI-led tech rally.

Despite the recovery, the earlier selloff left significant damage across crypto markets. Liquidations across digital asset derivatives totaled $740 million over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGlass. Long positions absorbed the bulk of the losses, with $287 million in bitcoin longs and $267 million in ether longs wiped out.

Technical warning signs

From a technical perspective, bitcoin’s move below the April 2025 “tariff tantrum” lows marked a notable breakdown, raising the risk of a deeper correction.

Still, Benjamin Cowen, founder of crypto analytics firm Into The Cryptoverse, said the extreme bearish sentiment could lay the groundwork for a short-term relief rally. Historically, he noted, bitcoin has often bounced after sweeping prior lows.

Cowen cautioned, however, that failure to rebound decisively could point to a prolonged downturn. “If bitcoin doesn’t bounce soon, it could be one hell of a midterm year,” he said, referencing previous bear markets in 2018 and 2022 that also coincided with U.S. midterm election cycles.

“The bear narrative has been very strong for a while,” Cowen added in a post on X. “That often creates the conditions for a countertrend rally—at least temporarily.”