Bitcoin Plummets to $25K, Catalysing $1 Billion in Liquidation
On August 18th, Bitcoin (BTC) experienced a significant fall from $28,800 to $25,200 within just 24 Hours. This sudden 12.5% decline marked its lowest point since June. The impact was felt across the entire crypto market, triggering a massive wave of liquidations totalling more than $1 billion. According to CoinGlass data, a substantial 176,752 traders were hit by liquidations during this intense 24-hour period.
This billion-dollar liquidation event is quite a standout, underlining its importance as the largest such incident over the past eight months. Among the liquidated funds, $836 million came from long positions, while $205 million stemmed from shorts, as reported by CoinGlass.
The broader cryptocurrency market slump can be attributed to news from The Wall Street Journal, which revealed that Elon Musk’s SpaceX had sold off its remaining Bitcoin holdings. This move came after a hefty $373 million markdown in the cryptocurrency’s value compared to the previous year.
Elon Musk’s involvement in the crypto space has been known for sparking significant price fluctuations through his social media posts. It’s worth noting that Tesla, another entity led by Musk, had earlier shared details about selling off 75% of its Bitcoin holdings in a recent earnings report.
Tesla briefly toyed with the idea of accepting payment in the crypto back in 2021 and also invested $1.5bn of its own cash into the tokens. But bitcoin registered a sharp reversal when Musk abandoned the plans three months later. Since then, the value of the carmaker’s own holdings has fluctuated. Tesla last year recorded $204mn in impairment losses related to its bitcoin holdings.
According to James Butterfill, head of research at Coinshares: “History shows that the market often reacts sharply to Elon Musk’s actions, implying that this latest revelation could further dampen investor sentiment.” Low trading volumes and decreased volatility also had an impact, he continued, as it “made the market susceptible to larger trades”.
US regulators have cracked down on crypto market and charged some of the market’s biggest names, which has drained liquidity and activity from crypto markets this year.
In June this year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase, claiming they had unlawfully selling digital tokens as securities to members of the public without filing the required registrations. The two companies have denied the allegations and vowed to defend themselves in court against unfair regulatory practices.
30% Drops Nothing New in Crypto
While the market fall turns heads amongst traditional investors, this is nothing new to seasoned players in the crypto market. A pseudonymous trader known as PlanB shared with his followers on Twitter/X that between June 2016 and the height of the 2018 bull market, BTC fell more than 30% six times, and came back record 10X price increase.
For the newbies: even in bull markets, Bitcoin can drop -30% six times in a row .. and still pump 10X. pic.twitter.com/AsExAJ91ZX
