Bitcoin’s decline leads to $206 million being liquidated in one hour

Bitcoin lost its upward trajectory as its price fell to a low of $97,207, with a 4% decline causing the global cryptocurrency market capitalization to fall by 4.5% to $3.44 trillion.

In the past 24 hours, the total liquidations amounted to $388 million, of which more than $206 million were completed in just one hour. Most of this liquidation was from long and short positions across the major exchanges.

Furthermore, the Bitcoin sell-off also impacted altcoins, with Ethereum, XRP, and Solana all falling more than 5% in 24 hours. At the time, Bitcoin was around $97,664, Ethereum was near $3,475, XRP was at $2.32, and Solana was down at $208.

What is the reason for the decline?

The sudden decline in Bitcoin, which led to a widespread market sell-off, came in response to the latest US macroeconomic data. According to the last Data According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in November 2024, JOLTS job openings increased by 259,000 to 8.1 million, indicating a strong labor market, which may limit federal interest rate cuts in 2025. The increase was seen in sectors such as professional services, finance, education .

“TLDR on why the market is down: US data came in hot, causing bond yields to rise. ISM higher than expected, JOLTS jobs increased. We are in a ‘good data is bad data’ phase in the risk assets market ahead of the FOMC meeting For the market open in two weeks, Miles Deutscher, a cryptocurrency analyst, noted at X mail.

A sharp correction looming?

In addition, the ISM Services PMI pointed to the resilience of the US economy. However, this strength led to concerns about market conditions, sending US stocks lower as economic data suggested the Federal Reserve may keep interest rates steady despite inflation.
Moreover, Arthur Hayes, former CEO of BitMEX, recently did just that subscriber His bold prediction for the cryptocurrency market, stating that it will likely peak by mid-March 2025, before seeing a sharp correction. His expectations were based on the decline in liquidity in the US dollar.