Bitcoin Slides Under $72K as $656M Liquidation Wave Hits 122,000 Traders

Thursday turned into a bloodbath for leveraged bulls. Coinglass data at 9:33 a.m. Eastern showed over $656 million liquidated across crypto derivatives in 24 hours, including more than $555 million in longs and over $100 million in shorts. More than 122,000 traders were caught in the carnage.

Bitcoin took $237 million of the hit, ethereum followed at $122 million, and solana contributed roughly $23 million. The single largest casualty was a $31.09 million BTC-USD long on Hyperliquid, reportedly closed near $72,250. Binance accounted for about 37% of exchange-level liquidation activity.

The selling accelerated around 8:15 a.m., when roughly $226.5 million in positions disappeared, overwhelmingly longs. Bitstamp put bitcoin near $71,888 at the time of writing, with hourly candles printing lower highs and lower lows after earlier prices around $76,081. Volume swelled on the steeper drops, pointing to forced exits rather than an orderly retreat.

The trigger is harder to pin down. The dump followed reports that Nvidia chief Jensen Huang resigned from the AI giant over an extramarital affair with an alleged Chinese spy. Market observers also flagged withdrawals from U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs, claims of unexpectedly firm October inflation, renewed chatter about Federal Reserve tightening, and broad weakness in tech stocks.

Other drags in the mix: index-related pressure on Strategy, contracting stablecoin supplies, and softer U.S. buying visible in Coinbase premium indicators. Traders now have a clear line in the sand — reclaiming the $75,600 to $75,700 zone could steady the technical picture, according to the report, though it offers no promise of fresh demand.