Latest BTC price drop cleans out six months of long liquidity

The recent dip of BTC to the $88,000 range wiped out long-term accumulated liquidity. Since the October 11 liquidation, the market has continued to cause deleveraging of long positions. 

BTC caused liquidations of long positions, some of them accumulated over the past six months. The liquidation heatmap suggested the recent BTC move wiped out most of the available liquidity down to the $90,000 level. 

Coinglass data shows the recent slide directly attacked the price levels with the most significant accumulation of long positions. For now, BTC has not attempted a short squeeze to return to a higher range. BTC has entered a historically strong quarter, but a year-end rally is not guaranteed.

After outperforming in Q3, BTC is now setting expectations for a lower range toward the end of the year.

Open interest for BTC still hovers around $32B, with no meaningful rebuilding since October’s liquidation. The current ongoing liquidations are raising the issue of whether the market was set for a recovery or for a deeper bear market. 

After the latest dip, the crypto Fear and Greed Index slid to 11 points, down from a recent local low of 17 points. The metric gauges the attitude of derivative traders, who are now more reluctant to hold aggressive long positions. 

BTC liquidations continue to drive price action

This time around, BTC had over $576M in long liquidations for the past 24 hours. The liquidation level itself was relatively normal, but the move to liquidate older positions suggested traders were ready to attack more available liquidity. 

As Cryptopolitan reported, the latest dip wiped out the gains since the fall of 2024, leaving BTC with a net annual loss. In the past two months, BTC volatility also remained high, creating the perfect conditions for aggressive liquidations. 

Based on available activity and signs from the options market, BTC may continue the slide as low as $85,000. 

The leading coin is now 0.9% down on a yearly basis, now lagging behind stocks and precious metals. BTC dominance is also down to 56.6%, while traders attempt to extract gains from rapid meme pumps, altcoin rallies, or DeFi protocols. 

Short traders return to $93,000 range

Following the price slide, BTC bounced to over $90,700, almost immediately after liquidating the available long positions. 

Short interest is now rebuilding, with the biggest liquidity set up at the $93,000 level. The recent recovery also started causing short liquidations for some of the positions at a lower price range. 

The new rounds of leveraged positions are putting BTC in a range between $85,000 and $95,000, abandoning the previous $105,000-$110,000 level. The rebuild short liquidity goes above $97,000, but is currently insufficient to attract a relief rally above $100,000.

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