Bitcoin Breaks Below $75,000 as Liquidations Near $1B

Bitcoin slipped through the $75,000 mark, setting off a sharp derivatives-driven unwind across the crypto market. Roughly $923 million in positions were liquidated over the past day, with bullish bets taking the brunt of the hit. About $834 million of the total came from liquidated long positions. Analysts have been watching $75,000 to $77,000 as a key technical support zone. Repeated tests below $80,000 throughout 2026 have already eroded confidence in that floor. Earlier selloffs in 2026, when Bitcoin traded in the $67,000 to $76,000 range, triggered even larger liquidation waves of about $1.7 billion to $2 billion, underscoring that forced deleveraging has been a recurring feature of the current cycle. The latest drop extends a broad correction from the prior peak. Bitcoin topped $124,000 in October 2025, then slid in a choppy decline that included a plunge to nearly $62,800 in February 2026, one of the cycle's steepest pullbacks. The move from $124,000 down to $75,000 amounts to about a 40% drawdown. Liquidations can amplify downside through a cascade effect: forced selling pushes prices lower, which triggers additional liquidations and more selling. The imbalance in this wave—longs liquidated by a wide margin versus shorts—highlights how crowded bullish positioning was going into the break. For investors tracking risk in the derivatives market, open interest and funding rates are key indicators. Open interest reflects how much capital is tied up in leveraged trades, while funding rates signal whether positioning is skewed toward longs or shorts. If Bitcoin cannot reclaim and hold the $75,000 to $77,000 zone, the February low near $62,800 becomes the next major reference point. A move toward that level could ignite another liquidation round, potentially larger, given the volume of positions that would be underwater between $75,000 and $63,000.