Bitcoin dips below $70K – Will $455M in liquidations derail BTC’s price recovery?

The crypto markets are bleeding, and so is Bitcoin [$BTC], the largest of them all. The total cap of the crypto market is down over 5% in the past 24 hours, as market status turned to extreme fear.

More than $856.01 million in crypto liquidations happened with longs, equating to $771.7 million. Of the total liquidations, Bitcoin accounted for $454.7 million, with longs taking 96%.

As a result, $BTC slid below $70,000 and was trading around $68,888, at press time, having lost 6% of its cap. A daily trading volume of $31.90 billion reinforced the sharp decline in price below $70,000.

For Ethereum [ETH], 91% of longs were liquidated from its total of $131.95 million. Other crypto assets saw over $218 million wiped out, with long positions representing 75%.

Can renewed spot demand support recovery?

At the same time, a Bitcoin rebound toward $71,000 was becoming more fragile considering other factors. For instance, the market sentiment from some analysts, like Benjamin Cowen, was shifting.

When replying to his post that bear market makes fools of both bulls and bears, Benjamin Bowen reiterated he thought Q4 could be weak.

This has been the case since the midterm US election results, implying investors were less optimistic as pro-crypto Republicans lost control of the house.

Additionally, monthly spot and futures demand was contracting at an accelerating rate. That of spot was at -280K $BTC, while that of perpetual futures was at -82K, a total demand of -362K $BTC.

Moreover, Bitcoin ETF outflows reached $300 million on the 11th of November and $48 million the following day. This indicated institutions were consistently withdrawing capital from Bitcoin and the crypto market in general. This adds institutional selling pressure to $BTC.

More downside risks emanate from a spike in miner-to-exchange flows this week. The total surged to 2,077 $BTC, about 16 times its 30-day average of 127 $BTC.

However, it does not confirm selling, as it could mean treasury transfers or management. Though, it could mean miners’ margins are getting squeezed by low prices.

There was more to this nose dive. US demand for $BTC was quiet, with the Coinbase Premium Index below -4 from 0.8 in September. This was the deepest average since February, affirming the low demand.

However, there was still a catch. The rallies of 2024 and 2025 all ran with a premium, with several of them starting from such deep discounts.

This could be driven by renewed spot demand as its CVD is closer to neutral, though the improvement did not last there. The Futures taker CVD was dominated by sellers.

Final Summary

• Bitcoin price plunged below $70,000 as liquidations surpassed $455 million, with longs accounting for 96%.
• Bitcoin recovery remains fragile amidst weak demand, ETF outflows, and shifting market sentiment.