Bitcoin's price on Sunday became chaotic as sales from large holders caused a rapid drop of 2,000 USD, mass liquidations, and an equally strong recovery.
The movements wiped out both long and short positions in a few hours, raising new concerns about low liquidity manipulation and the book's weak state as Bitcoin continues to stay above 91,000 USD.
1.39 billion USD in Bitcoin was sold within an hour
Several analysts reported on what appeared to be coordinated sales, where more than 15,565 BTC, worth approximately 1.39 billion USD, reached the market in one hour.
"Here’s why the market just hit hard: large holders sold 4,551 BTC, Coinbase sold 2,613 BTC, Wintermute sold 2,581 BTC, Binance sold 2,044 BTC, BitMEX sold 1,932 BTC, Fidelity sold 1,844 BTC. A total of 15,565 BTC worth 1.39 billion USD was sold in one hour! This was a full-scale coordinated sell-off," analyst Wimar wrote in a post.
The sudden increase in supply on the market simultaneously accelerated Bitcoin's decline from 89,700 USD to 87,700 USD, setting the stage for a wave of liquidations.
171 million USD in liquidations as long and short positions are settled.
The sharp initial drop wiped out 171 million USD in BTC long positions, caught off guard as the Bitcoin price fell 2,000 USD in a matter of minutes. It then recovered with equal force. Right now, the Bitcoin price is 91,494 USD.
Along with this rapid recovery, nearly 14 million USD in short positions were liquidated in the last hour and over 91 million USD in the last four hours.
"This is yet another example of manipulation over the weekend with low liquidity to wipe out both leveraged longs and shorts," said Bull Theory.
Data from Coinglass confirms the extent of the damage. Over the last 24 hours, 121,628 traders have been liquidated, resulting in total liquidations of 346.67 million USD.
Market commentators say that this was not normal volatility, and Marto suggested that the order was not temporary.
"People call this volatility. It is not. It is induced liquidity gathering. When the book is weak, large holders swing the price like a door and profit on both sides," he wrote.
Others pointed to the speed of the recovery, where Lenny, a trader known for following liquidity flows, commented on the rapid swing.
"Honestly, the BTC dip to 89k was absorbed quickly. It’s not noise," replied Lenny.
The rapid absorption suggests strong spot demand remains even as aggressive leveraging continues in low weekend liquidities.
Can Bitcoin hold 90,000 USD?
The Bitcoin price is recovering its weekend losses but still shows signs of significant stress during the day. The double liquidations highlight how thin books continue to be a target over weekends for large actors who can move billions USD in a matter of minutes.
Spot demand may stabilize price movements over the coming week, especially as liquidity normalizes and derivatives markets recover.
With over 300 million USD in liquidations behind it, Bitcoin enters the next trading session with cleared leverage, but also increased sensitivity to more large holders' movements.
At the same time, data shows that 1 billion USD in short positions are at risk of being liquidated if the Bitcoin price rises to 93,000 USD.
Notably, the 93,000 USD level is barely 2% above the current levels.
