Bitcoin drops below $82,000 as over $770 million in crypto positions are liquidated
Bitcoin slides below $82,000 amid market sell-off
Bitcoin fell below $82,000 on Monday evening, dropping 2.8% over 24 hours to $81,382. Ethereum also fell sharply, dropping 4.6% to $2,425. Crypto liquidations reached $771 million in the same period, with $685.6 million coming from long positions — bets that prices would rise.
The largest daily losses hit smaller coins. Zcash dropped 10.4% to $1,149, while Solana fell 7.5% and XRP slid 6.4%.
Why the market is selling off
Dominick John, an analyst at Zeus Research, said the pullback reflects "macroeconomic headwinds, cooling institutional demand, and risk-off positioning ahead of key U.S. inflation data." He noted that elevated Treasury yields and a stronger dollar have reduced appetite for risky assets.
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs — funds that track Bitcoin's price and are traded like stocks — recorded $681.1 million in net outflows last week, their worst week since late June, according to SoSoValue data. Spot Ethereum ETFs saw $542 million in outflows over the same period.
Additionallly, South Korea's main stock index, the Kospi, dropped 6.1% on Tuesday morning, triggering a sell-side circuit breaker — a temporary halt designed to slow steep declines. Tom Lee, chairman of Bitmine, said the drop in Korean equities could be "spilling over into crypto." Min Jung of Presto Research linked the drop to weakness in U.S. technology stocks, especially semiconductors and memory chips.
What happened to the liquidations
Liquidations happen when a trader's positions are forcibly closed because the value has dropped too far or the trader cannot meet margin requirements — the amount of money required to keep a leveraged position open. Most of the $771 million in liquidations came from long positions, meaning traders who had bet on prices going up were forced out.
Within just 12 hours, $631.8 million in liquidations occurred, $600 million of which were longs. The Block notes that liquidation figures are based on publicly available data and may understate the true extent of market liquidations.
Some companies kept buying despite the drop
Michael Saylor's Strategy disclosed it bought an additional 250 BTC for about $21.5 million at an average price of $86,194 per bitcoin between Oct. 5 and Oct. 11. Bitmine Immersion Technologies also said it increased its Ethereum treasury to over 6 million ETH after acquiring 12,532 tokens over the past week.
Analysts see room for stabilization
Justin d'Anethan, head of research at Arctic Digital, said the recent drop does not invalidate a potential bottom or the broader bull run. He suggested the market may be going through a recalibration and forming a new support zone — a price level where buying pressure may prevent further declines.
What is still unclear
It is not yet clear whether the sell-off in South Korean markets will continue to affect crypto prices, or whether the liquidations signal a deeper trend reversal or simply a short-term correction.
Newisty Editorial Team covers technology, cryptocurrency, digital products, online platforms, developer tools and the wider digital economy. Our content is researched from official sources, company announcements, public documentation, market data and other primary or reputable sources. Articles are reviewed and edited before publication for clarity, accuracy and useful context.
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