210,000 Liquidations! Bitcoin Soars and Then Plummets, Double Kill for Bulls and Bears!

TradingKey – Bitcoin skyrocketed before plummeting, nearly breaking below the $100K mark, triggering massive liquidations and casting a shadow over its near-term outlook.  

Around 3 PM on Monday (May 12), reports emerged that the U.S. and China had agreed to significantly reduce tariffs on each other’s goods. The news sent Bitcoin  (BTC) soaring to $105.8K, its highest level since February. 

However, the rally was short-lived, and BTC soon retreated, with the selloff accelerating after U.S. markets closed. By early Tuesday, the price had dipped dangerously close to $100K.  

Bitcoin Price Chart, Source: CoinMarketCap.

The violent swings spilled over into the broader crypto market, forcing a wave of liquidations. Data shows that over the past 24 hours, 212,000 traders were liquidated, totaling $700 million—$480 million from long positions and $220 million from shorts.  

Crypto Liquidation Data, Source: Coinglass.

The downturn was driven by two key factors:  

1. Profit-taking after the U.S.-China tariff news played out.  

2. Fed Governor Kugler’s remarks that tariffs still pose significant economic risks, reinforcing expectations that interest rates will remain unchanged.  

With the U.S. and China making major progress on tariffs, further upward catalysts from trade policies appear limited. The next major market-moving event will likely be the Fed’s rate decision. Most analysts expect no rate cuts until July or later, meaning crypto could face a corrective phase in May-June during this policy lull.