Bitcoin’s price experienced a significant drop as the crypto market saw liquidations totaling $661 million in the past 24 hours, affecting nearly 200,000 traders.
On March 15, Bitcoin plummeted by 7.5% in just a few hours, falling from $72,000 to $66,500. Although the asset briefly rebounded to reclaim the $68,000 level, it was ultimately rejected and fell further to around $67,500, where it currently stands. This marks an 8.3% decrease from its all-time high of $73,737 on March 14.
The majority of liquidations, amounting to $525.2 million, were from long positions, while short position liquidations totaled $136.5 million.
As a result of these developments, the crypto market capitalization has dropped by 7.3% in a day, reaching $2.68 trillion as approximately $175 billion left the space.
Greeks Live, a crypto derivatives tooling provider, noted a recent change in market tempo on March 14. They suggested that the current narrative of ETF inflows may be starting to shift.
Pav Hundal, the lead analyst at Australian crypto exchange Swyftx, expressed concerns about a correction back into the low $60,000 or high $50,000 range if ETF volumes continue to decline. He highlighted that Bitcoin ETF inflow volumes were down 48% from their 14-day average.
Furthermore, aggregate spot Bitcoin ETF inflows were only $133 million on March 14, the lowest they have been this month.
Crypto trader and analyst “CrediBULL Crypto,” who has a significant following on social media, stated that this drop was the anticipated one. He also mentioned that the open interest (OI) in derivatives markets had largely been wiped out and predicted that Bitcoin could fall to around $63,000 to $64,000.
The release of economic data in the United States this week may have contributed to the price decline. The PPI data came in above expectations, leading to projections of prolonged high interest rates from the Federal Reserve. Additionally, the hotter-than-expected CPI data earlier in the week exacerbated America’s economic woes.
Asian stock markets also retreated on Friday after the disappointing U.S. economic data shattered hopes of imminent lower interest rates.