Bitcoin Withdrawal Led to $500 Million Liquidation

Bitcoin (BTC) dropped from $98,500 to $95,500 late yesterday, resetting last week’s gains, then rebounded.

Profit taking as the cryptocurrency approached $100,000 caused it to fall 3.5% from peak levels.

XRP and dogecoin (DOGE) led losses among the majors, falling more than 5%. Solana’s SOL, ether (ETH), Cardano’s ADA, and BNB lost between 2 percent and 5 percent in value just before recovering earlier in the day. Overall market value fell 2.4%. CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20), which tracks major tokens, decreased by 1.48% in the last 24 hours.

Crypto futures have taken a massive hit with over $500 million liquidated in both long and short positions amid price volatility. According to Coinglass data, over $366 million in long positions and $127 million in short positions were liquidated.

In an unusual move, mid-sized companies tracking small altcoins and futures recorded liquidations of over $100 million. This is an indication that traders are making riskier transactions.

However, traders do not think the pullback is worrying.

Jeff Mei, COO of crypto exchange BTSE, said in an interview with CoinDesk: “It’s clear that Bitcoin is leading the market, which is a key indicator that most of the demand is driven by institutions purchasing ETFs. Institutions will soon be looking to buy Ethereum ETFs and “Hopefully once approved, we believe it will begin purchasing Solana ETFs.”

Stating that he believes that Bitcoin will cross the $ 100,000 threshold next week, Mei continues: “With the stock market making steady gains and the Trump team meeting with crypto executives to discuss pro-crypto policies, it seems likely that the current rally will continue until 2025.”