Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies Face Selling Pressure: What Triggered the Drop?

• Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) prices dropped by 15% in just 5 hours, dragging down other altcoins such as Solana (SOL), BNB, XRP, and Cardano (ADA).
• The selling wave occurred immediately after Bitcoin reached a new all-time high of $69,200.
• According to Coinglass data, the last 24 hours saw nearly $1.10 billion in crypto liquidation, affecting more than 297,000 traders.

Bitcoin’s price experienced a sudden drop after facing selling pressure on Tuesday; crypto liquidations soared to $1 billion.

Massive Liquidations for Bitcoin and Cryptos

There was a significant sell-off in the crypto market over the last 24 hours, causing the global crypto market cap to drop over 2% from $2.57 trillion to $2.29 trillion. Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) prices fell by 15% in just 5 hours, dragging down other altcoins such as Solana (SOL), BNB, XRP, and Cardano (ADA).

The selling wave occurred immediately after Bitcoin reached a new all-time high of $69,200. On-chain data from CryptoQuant on Miner Reserves and Miner to Exchange indicated a significant movement of BTC to exchanges. These BTC movements led to Bitcoin reaching nearly $69,200 in the last 24 hours, only to drop to $59,323. The BTC miner reserve dropped to 1.82 million, reaching levels last seen in 2021.

COINOTAG also reported the transfer of approximately 1,000 Bitcoins from the Satoshi era, worth around $69 million, to Coinbase. These Bitcoin movements occurred from addresses associated with miners, and as Bitcoin’s halving approaches, selling pressure increases.

Whales also joined the selling wave, and Whale Alert showed significant amounts of BTC, ETH, XRP, DOGE, SHIB, LTC, MATIC, and other altcoins being emptied into crypto exchanges. Whales and market makers have profited significantly from the recent crypto market rally.

In general, the crypto market lost over $200 billion in value with the recent liquidations as BTC reached a new all-time high. According to Coinglass data, nearly $1.10 billion in crypto liquidation occurred in the last 24 hours, affecting more than 297,000 traders. The largest single liquidation order, involving $9 million worth of XBTUSD, occurred on the BitMEX crypto exchange.

Approximately $820 million in long positions and $235 million in short positions were liquidated, with Bitcoin and Ethereum experiencing liquidations worth $309 million and $185 million, respectively. This led to a bleeding effect in the crypto market but also presented a buying opportunity at the dip.

Macro Factors

Fed officials have taken a more cautious stance on interest rate cuts and anticipate a rate cut in the second half of the year. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s testimony to the House and Senate committees will provide a sharper look at monetary policy and expectations for interest rate cuts amid mixed inflation data.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) rose to 103.89, exhibiting volatile movements in recent weeks. Additionally, U.S. Treasury yields increased as investors awaited expected new economic data this week. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.158%, continuing its recovery over the past few days.

The CME FedWatch Tool indicates a higher probability of an interest rate cut in June based on recent economic data. However, Wall Street has pushed back the timing of the first interest rate cut to July or September.

BTC Price Continues to Rise with Strong Derivative Data

While market participants realized profits after the recent rally and meme coin frenzy, derivative data indicates strength in the market. Funding rates decreased slightly after the recent crypto market sell-off.

Bitcoin and Ethereum options continue to maintain high levels for placing calls with strong volumes. Bitcoin traders made over 14,000 calls with a nominal value of $944 billion for a $70,000 strike price, indicating significant bullish sentiment.

Meanwhile, open positions for Bitcoin and Ethereum futures are $32.85 billion and $13.19 billion, respectively. In the last 4 hours, there has been a shift from selling to buying in the open interest of major cryptocurrencies, resulting in over a 5% increase.