Market Downturn and Liquidations
Cryptocurrency markets experienced massive liquidations totaling approximately $1.16 billion over 24 hours as major assets tumbled. Nearly $600 million in positions were liquidated within a single hour as selling pressure intensified across the market.
Long positions, or bets that asset prices will rise, accounted for $1.08 billion of the liquidations. Bitcoin and Ethereum led the wreckage with approximately $298 million and $273 million worth of liquidations, respectively.
Price Declines
Bitcoin fell 4% to $105,699, marking the lowest price since Oct. 17. The decline followed a disappointing October that failed to deliver expected "Uptober" gains for major crypto assets.
Ethereum and altcoins suffered steeper losses, with Ethereum diving approximately 7% to $3,583, a nearly three-month low. XRP dropped about 7% to $2.33, while BNB, Solana, and DOGE all showed daily declines of around 9%.
Potential Contributing Factors
The crypto plunge occurred as stock indices like the Nasdaq and S&P 500 remained positive, with no obvious catalysts prompting the sizable losses. Pseudonymous analyst Maartunn from CryptoQuant identified potential factors including sell pressure from U.S. spot Bitcoin traders.
Charts also indicated signs of fragility in Ethereum's technical structure. The analyst's observations suggest underlying weakness beyond simple profit-taking or portfolio rebalancing.
Crypto prices had begun slipping late Sunday following weekend remarks from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent about high interest rates impacting the economy. Bessent suggested that parts of the economy may have been driven into recession.
Traders may be positioning defensively ahead of this week's U.S. jobs report, adding to market volatility. Bitcoin traded around $108,000 on Sunday before accelerating declines, while Ethereum slipped from near $3,750.
Major tokens softened across the board with altcoins underperforming as investors maintained defensive positioning amid macroeconomic uncertainty.