Bitcoin (BTC) experienced a significant price drop as the cryptocurrency market saw liquidations amounting to over $661 million in the past 24 hours, impacting almost 200,000 traders.
On March 15, Bitcoin’s price plummeted by 7.5% within a few hours, falling from $72,000 to $66,500. Although it briefly bounced back to the $68,000 level, it was rejected and dropped 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 the liquidations, 80% to be exact, were long positions, resulting in $525.2 million in liquidations. Short position liquidations totaled $136.5 million.
The cryptocurrency market capitalization decreased by 7.3% in a day, reaching $2.68 trillion as approximately $175 billion left the space.
Greeks Live, a provider of crypto derivatives tools, noted a recent change in market tempo on March 14, suggesting that the current narrative of ETF inflows may be shifting. Pav Hundal, the lead analyst at Australian crypto exchange Swyftx, expressed concern that if ETF volumes continue to decline, there could be a correction back to the low $60,000 or high $50,000 range.
Data from Farside Investors revealed that aggregate spot Bitcoin ETF inflows were only $133 million on March 14, the lowest for this month.
A prominent crypto trader and analyst, known as “CrediBULL Crypto,” shared with his 380,000 followers on X that it appears to be the drop they have been anticipating.
This recent drop has also eliminated a significant portion of the open interest (OI) in derivatives markets. However, the analyst predicts that there is still a little way to go, with BTC potentially falling to around $63,000 to $64,000.
The release of economic data in the United States this week may have contributed to the accelerated declines. The Producer Price Index (PPI) data coming in above expectations has led to projections of prolonged high rates from the Federal Reserve. Additionally, the hotter-than-expected Consumer Price Index (CPI) earlier in the week has worsened America’s economic situation.
Asian stock markets also retreated on Friday following the disappointing U.S. economic data, which dashed hopes of lower interest rates.
In related news, Vance Spencer, a permabull in the cryptocurrency industry, expressed his unwavering belief in the inevitability of crypto’s success.