Bitcoin, Ether and XRP Sink as $1B in Crypto Longs Gets Liquidated

It took one week to erase the post-election celebration. Bitcoin slipped around 6% on Friday to the $75,500 area, briefly trading under $75,000 — its lowest intraday print since mid-September. The world's largest crypto is now staring down a fifth straight losing week and has handed back the entire post-election bounce.

Ethereum fared worse, dropping roughly 8% to about $2,230, a ten-week low. ETH has lagged Bitcoin for most of the autumn and the ratio keeps sliding. Solana shed about 6.6%, dipping under $90 before rebounding to roughly $90.40. XRP was the weakest of the majors, down close to 9% to around $1.20 after falling more than 10% at one point on the day.

The damage went well beyond spot prices. More than $1 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated inside 24 hours, with longs taking the overwhelming share. Bitcoin accounted for roughly $267 million of that, Ethereum about $167 million, according to cryptoticker.io.

There was no XRP-specific headline behind its slide. Coins that ran hardest on regulatory optimism tend to fall hardest when that optimism cools, and XRP's 2026 narrative has been all about regulation — making it the highest-beta large cap in the room. Solana, meanwhile, saw small outflows from its ETFs, and the Alpenglow upgrade story has not been enough to decouple SOL from Bitcoin.

Traders are watching a handful of lines. Desks peg $75,000 as the near-term floor for Bitcoin and $80,000 as the ceiling that capped the recent rally. Wintermute flagged $73,000 and $68,000 as the next technical levels if volatility continues — levels, not forecasts. For Ethereum, the question is whether $2,200 holds as support. For Solana, $88.30 is the line; lose it and the early-November lows come back into play.

Sentiment has cooled accordingly. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index has slipped to 28, firmly in fear territory — a zone that has historically marked uncomfortable but often decent medium-term entry points. The next catalysts: ETF flow direction early next week, whether Bitcoin reclaims $80,000 or loses $73,000, and the MEXC fallout. CryptoTicker notes that nothing in this drop was crypto-native — it was a liquidity event driven by equities and policy. That cuts both ways, since crypto has tended to bounce first when the Nasdaq steadies.