BTC Dips Below $63,000 as $122M in Long Bets Get Liquidated

Crypto Liquidations Top $227 Million

Following a virtually flat Wednesday close, bitcoin moved lower alongside an uptick in volatility. After spending much of Wednesday afternoon bound between $63,300 and $63,500, a brief late-night surge lifted the asset to $63,900 around 1:25 a.m. EST.

However, about two hours later, bitcoin began a descent that dragged it back below the $63,400 mark. The leading cryptocurrency repeated the pattern shortly after, rising to $63,900 before paring gains in another sell-off. Unlike the first round, however, bitcoin dipped to $62,912 at 12:44 p.m., pushing its market capitalization down to $1.26 trillion. Although it quickly reclaimed $63,000, the digital asset remained down 0.5%.

Bitcoin’s elevated volatility on Thursday spurred an uptick in liquidations. Long positions accounted for nearly $34 million of the total, up more than $13 million from the previous day. Across the broader crypto market, liquidations hit $227 million, split between $122 million in long bets and roughly $105 million in short bets.

Bitcoin’s price action diverged from U.S. equity indexes, which traded marginally higher. Stocks were buoyed by declining oil prices along with strong earnings and revenue reports from major hardware and chipmaking companies.