Volatility Returns as BTC Dumps 7% to $95K Amid $700M in Liquidations

Bitcoin prices have slumped back into five-figure territory, with the asset hitting an intraday low of $95,164 during early trading in Asia on Wednesday following a fall of almost 6% in 12 hours, according to CoinGecko.

On Tuesday, Jan. 7, the asset topped $102,000 after gaining 10% over the past week. However, most of those gains have now been wiped out.

Nevertheless, BTC remains within its rangebound channel, which started to form in mid-December when it fell from its all-time high.

Liquidations Near $700M

Over the past 24 hours, over 235,000 traders were wrecked, with total liquidations coming in at $695 million, according to Coinglass. Around 90% of those were in long positions, with over $300 million being liquidated in both BTC and ETH trades.

The largest single liquidation order happened on Binance, with an ETH/USDT position valued at $17.7 million.

“Cryptocurrencies saw a sharp correction due to plummeting US stocks such as Nvidia and Tesla,” commented derivatives provider Greeks Live, adding that market sentiment has turned pessimistic.

It noted that the “mainstream view is affected by the strong dollar and the decline of US stocks, the trend of Bitcoin has not changed, the bull market is still there.”

Others have suggested that the market nuke was due to hotter-than-expected jobs data in the US.

The long end rallying is due in part to hotter than expected job openings, but maybe the real reason it is going up is due to ISM prices paid which also just came in:

Actual: 64.4
Estimated: 57.5
Prior: 58.2

Has not been this high since Feb. 2023, making the market wonder if…

— Benjamin Cowen (@intocryptoverse) January 7, 2025

It was a “nasty reaction to the ISM PMI,” said CEHV partner Adam Cochran, who added:

“This pushed investors over the edge to no longer expecting a high likelihood of rate cuts moving forward.”

In a note on Jan. 8, 10x Research restressed the importance of macroeconomic data in predicting Bitcoin price movements.

“The strengthening of the US dollar and the rise in US bond yields have been clear manifestations of these emerging headwinds,” for global liquidity and Bitcoin’s relationship with it, they stated.

Altcoin Bloodbath

Total capitalization has fallen by 7% to $3.53 trillion at the time of writing as the altcoins took the brunt of the losses and $225 billion exited the space.

Ethereum took a massive hit, slumping 8% in a fall below $3,400, where it remains at the time of writing. ETH has now wiped out all gains over the past five days.

The altcoins are a bloodbath as usual, with double-digit losses for Dogecoin (DOGE), Avalanche (AVAX), Hyperliquid (HYPE), Pepe (PEPE), Near Protocol (NEAR), and Bittensor (TAO).