Key Takeaways
- Crypto liquidations topped $700 million on Tuesday as bitcoin fell under $62,000, wiping out June 22 gains.
- Long positions made up 80% of total losses, hitting bitcoin and ethereum for a combined $369 million.
- Analysts predict a nested bear flag structure will drag bitcoin down to $50,000 next.
Ethereum and Altcoins Face Heavy Selling
Liquidations across the cryptocurrency market surpassed $700 million Tuesday morning amid a sell-off that saw top digital assets post losses of 3% or more. According to Bitstamp data, long positions accounted for approximately $595 million, or 80% of total liquidations, while short bets reached $119 million.
Bitcoin alone saw $193 million in liquidations — the largest for a single cryptocurrency — with long bets accounting for nearly $160 million and short bets totaling $54 million. The surge in liquidations for the top cryptocurrency followed its slide from over $64,000 to just under $62,000 around 4:30 a.m. EST, a reversal that effectively wiped out its June 22 gains. The slide trimmed bitcoin’s market capitalization to $1.24 trillion.
Ethereum, which plunged to a low of $1,634, saw $176 million in liquidations, with long bets accounting for $148 million of the total. Market data shows a total of 11,877 traders were liquidated worldwide, with $14.15 million being the largest single liquidation. Solana saw approximately $29.5 million in long bets liquidated versus nearly $1.5 million in shorts.
Other digital assets with notable liquidations include HYPE, which recorded $14.26 million in long positions liquidated and nearly $850,000 on shorts. Privacy coin Zcash saw nearly $8 million in liquidations, while DOGE and WLD recorded liquidations of $7.9 million and $5.2 million, respectively.
Bitcoin’s sharp rejection just hours after piercing the $65,500 threshold highlights the difference between a true structural reversal and a classic liquidity trap. The swift plunge back to the $62,000 range directly supports the technical view that the digital asset has yet to establish a macroeconomic bottom.
This argument is strongly anchored in technical analysis shared by analyst Cryptogerla on X, who explicitly warns traders not to misinterpret short-term relief rallies as macro trend reversals.
“Everyone thinks $ BTC has bottomed. But Bear Flag 2 hasn’t hit its target yet, and Bear Flag 3 is already forming. The trend remains bearish. $50K is still very much in play. Don’t confuse a relief rally with a reversal,” the analyst warned.
According to analysts, the spike to $65,500 effectively hunted liquidity by triggering trailing stop-losses from short sellers and enticing breakout buyers into long positions. Once this liquidity was grabbed, heavy institutional distribution resumed, trapping late-stage buyers. The resulting liquidations that morning underscore how heavily skewed the market was toward trapped longs.
Therefore, as long as bitcoin fails to secure daily closes above major resistance levels, the broader trend remains firmly down. Analysts argue that the recent price action confirms that the path of least resistance for the cryptocurrency market continues to be lower, with the $50,000 level acting as a strong magnet for a potential macro bottom.
