The price of Bitcoin (BTC) experienced a significant drop amidst a chaotic day that resulted in over $661 million in crypto liquidations within the past 24 hours, impacting nearly 200,000 traders.
During early trading on March 15, Bitcoin plummeted by 7.5% in just a few hours, falling from $72,000 to $66,500. The asset managed to recover slightly, reaching the $68,000 level before being rejected and further declining to around $67,500, its current trading price according to Tradingview data. Currently, the price is down 8.3% from its all-time high of $73,737 on March 14.
The majority of liquidations, 80% to be precise, were long positions, resulting in $525.2 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours. Short-position liquidations amounted to $136.5 million.
As a result, the crypto market capitalization dropped by 7.3% in a single day, reaching $2.68 trillion as approximately $175 billion exited the space.
Greeks Live, a provider of crypto derivatives tools, noted a recent change in the market tempo on March 14. The firm added 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 potential correction back to the low $60,000 or high $50,000 levels if ETF volumes continue to decline. He also highlighted that Bitcoin ETF inflow volumes were down by 48% compared to their 14-day average.
According to data from Farside Investors, aggregate spot Bitcoin ETF inflows were at their lowest point this month, totaling just $133 million on March 14.
A prominent crypto trader and analyst, CrediBULL Crypto, shared his thoughts on the situation with his 380,000 followers on X, stating that this drop could be the anticipated one. He also mentioned that the recent drop has eradicated most of the accumulated open interest in derivatives markets and predicted that Bitcoin could potentially fall to around $63,000 to $64,000.
The release of economic data in the United States this week may have further accelerated the declines. The Producer Price Index (PPI) data coming in above expectations has fueled projections of prolonged high rates from the Federal Reserve. Additionally, the hotter-than-expected Consumer Price Index (CPI) data earlier in the week has worsened America’s economic troubles.
On Friday, Asian stock markets also experienced a retreat after the U.S. economic data dashed hopes of imminent lower interest rates.