Volatility Grips Bitcoin After Flash Crash
After plunging to $61,310 late Wednesday, bitcoin quickly reversed the losses, and by midnight it was hovering around $64,600. However, the cryptocurrency could not sustain the momentum, declining gradually until it stabilized at levels just above $62,200. A similar pattern repeated, with bitcoin surging past $64,000 only to stall before testing the $64,500 resistance level at 10:14 a.m. EST.
At the time of writing at 1:30 p.m. EST, bitcoin had retreated below $64,000 and appeared poised to slip below $63,000. Although bitcoin’s recovery ultimately trimmed its losses, the daily chart shows it was still down 3.2% over the course of 24 hours and 14% over seven days. Following its morning flash crash toward $61,000, bitcoin’s market capitalization momentarily plunged to approximately $1.23 trillion before recovering to $1.27 trillion.
Since May 29, when its market capitalization was around $1.48 trillion, bitcoin has shed more than $200 billion, making it one of its worst periods in 2026 so far. According to Coingecko data, bitcoin is down by nearly 30% so far this year.
For the third consecutive day, the sell-off across the cryptocurrency market triggered the liquidation of more than $1 billion in leveraged positions. Liquidations on bitcoin alone topped $803 million, with wiped-out long bets accounting for $636 million of the total. Overall, the crypto market recorded $1.43 billion in liquidated long bets and nearly $307 million in short bets, bringing the total value of leveraged bets wiped out to $1.73 billion.
Analysts Debate Institutional Headwinds vs. Macro Stress
While bitcoin’s freefall was initially attributed to Middle East political tensions and Strategy’s sale of 32 bitcoins, views diverge as to why it plunged. MicroStrategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, who initially did not respond directly to critics who slammed the BTC sale, weighed into the debate by attributing the net outflows from spot exchange-traded funds to capital rotation rather than capital impairment.
Joining the debate, Grayscale Research noted that while Strategy’s disclosure of the sale weighed heavily on investor sentiment, the actual amount sold is fundamentally insignificant compared to the firm’s broader balance sheet. According to Grayscale, the market’s aggressive reaction highlights a shift toward a compressed volatility regime where sharp, narrative-driven moves are frequently triggered by institutional headlines rather than structural changes.
Meanwhile, Lacie Zhang, a research analyst at Bitget Wallet, said fresh data suggest that crypto may be pricing in macro stress faster, not just reflecting it. Zhang said:
“ BTC tested the low-$60Ks, cleared a $1.8 billion liquidation wave, including more than $1.5 billion in long positions, and has already bounced toward $63K. Funding rates have flipped deeply negative, open interest has reset sharply, and Fear & Greed is at 12. That is a market that has done significant technical work in a short window.”
The analyst noted that while a retest of $55,000 to $57,000 remains possible if outflows persist, “ crypto may already be closer to clearing this episode than equity markets are.”
Nicolai Sondergaard, a research analyst at Nansen, argued that market participants are using the move off $61,000 to reduce exposure rather than add to it.
