After the large sell orders led by whales, Bitcoin's price movement on Sunday became chaotic. This resulted in a sudden drop of $2,000, massive liquidations, and aggressive rebounds.
This movement caused both long and short traders to be liquidated in a matter of hours, raising new concerns about liquidity manipulation and order book vulnerability while Bitcoin remained above $91,000.
Bitcoin sells 1.39 trillion... within 1 hour
Several analysts reported a coordinated sell-off where 15,565 BTC, approximately $1.39 billion, was released into the market in just one hour.
The reasons for the market crash are as follows: whales dumped 4,551 BTC, Coinbase 2,613 BTC, Wintermute 2,581 BTC, Binance 2,044 BTC, Bitmex 1,932 BTC, and Fidelity 1,844 BTC. A total of 15,565 BTC, amounting to $1.39 billion, was dumped in one hour. This is a coordinated sell-off. – Excerpt from analyst Wimar's writing.
At the same time, a surge in market supply caused Bitcoin's price to plummet from $89,700 to $87,700, initiating a chain reaction of liquidations.
Long and short position liquidations, $171 million
An initial drop led to the liquidation of $171 million in BTC long positions, and the Bitcoin price rebounded after a drop of $2,000 in just a few minutes. The current Bitcoin price is $91,494.
With a quick recovery, about $10 million in short positions were liquidated in the last hour, and over $91 million was liquidated in the last four hours.
This is another example of manipulation to liquidate both long and short leverage positions. – Comments from Bull Siron.
CoinGlass data confirms the scale of the damage. In the last 24 hours, 121,628 traders were liquidated, with a total liquidation amount of $346.67 million.
Market commentators stated that this was not typical volatility, and Marto argues that this series of events was not coincidental.
People continue to call this volatility. It is not. This is designed liquidity collection. When the order book is weak, whales shake the price like a hinge to profit from both sides. – Writing by Marto.
Others noted the recovery speed, with trader Lenny, known for tracking liquidity flows, mentioning the recovery.
Honestly, BTC dropping to $89,000 was quickly absorbed. This is not noise. – Opinion from Lenny.
The rapid absorption suggests that strong spot demand is still valid and continues despite the evaporation of leverage at weekend lows.
Will Bitcoin maintain $90,000?
While Bitcoin price is recovering from weekend losses, it still shows signs of heavy stress during the day. Double liquidations showcase the vulnerability of thin order books that allow large traders to move billions in just a few minutes over the weekend.
Spot demand can stabilize price movements until the coming week, especially as liquidity normalizes and the derivatives market resets.
After over $300 million in liquidations occurred, Bitcoin enters the next trading session while being more sensitive to additional moves led by whales.
Meanwhile, if Bitcoin price rises to $93,000, $1 billion in short positions will be at risk of liquidation.
Notably, the $93,000 threshold is just 2% above the current level.
