A Broad Crypto Rout Gathers Pace
Bitcoin is extending one of its sharpest selloffs in months, with the decline pulling the wider market lower, with ether dropping under $1,900 as leveraged traders rushed for the exits. The move capped a brutal stretch for the bulls as more than $1.8 billion in leveraged crypto positions were liquidated across a 24-hour window, the largest such wipeout since February.
Bitcoin.com News reported that long liquidations alone crossed $1.35 billion as the price sank toward $66,346, against just $136 million in short positions wiped out, a lopsided ratio that revealed how heavily traders had been positioned for further gains.
Two forces stand out behind the drop, with the first being a steady exit from spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the regulated products that hold bitcoin on behalf of investors. Cumulative outflows have reached an estimated $2.8 billion to $3.5 billion, marking the longest withdrawal streak since 2024 and signaling cooling institutional appetite after a strong run.
The second is sentiment as Strategy, the corporate bitcoin holder, who disclosed a small sale of bitcoin, its first in nearly four years. The transaction itself was minor in size, but the weight it carried was not, as the firm remains the market’s most visible corporate buyer, and any sign of it trimming its exposure can rattle traders already on edge.
Moreover, the selloff stood in sharp contrast to traditional markets. Global stocks pushed to fresh records even as bitcoin plunged, a divergence that challenged the popular framing of bitcoin as a risk-on asset moving in lockstep with equities. For now, crypto is trading on its own deteriorating internals rather than broad macro fear.
Where to Look Next
With momentum broken, attention has turned to support. Traders watching the $65,000 level as near-term technical support believe a decisive break could potentially open the door to a test of $60,000, but if current levels hold, there could be a setup to a short-term rebound (especially if ETF outflows slow and forced selling exhausts itself).
The setup leaves the market finely balanced. Persistent ETF redemptions and weak institutional demand argue for more downside, while heavily liquidated leverage can sometimes clear the way for a sharp relief bounce once the selling pressure fades. Bitcoin.com News has tracked several similar episodes in 2026 in which aggressive long liquidations marked local bottoms rather than the start of deeper declines.
In either case, what happens at $66,000 may set the tone for the weeks ahead.
