Bitcoin crashes through $81,000 buy wall as $1 billion crypto liquidation bloodbath unfolds

Bitcoin registered an intraday low near $80,000 as a cryptocurrency selloff triggered over $1 billion in liquidations, overwhelmingly hitting traders betting on higher prices.

The largest cryptocurrency traded around $80,744 as of press time, down 3% over 24 hours and roughly 4% over the past week, extending a retreat from its recent attempt to reclaim $87,000.

The decline triggered $1.16 billion in liquidations across the crypto derivatives market over the preceding 24 hours, according to CoinGlass data. Bullish positions accounted for $1 billion of that total, compared with $108 million in short positions.

The figures show how quickly the market's positioning has deteriorated as falling prices force exchanges to close leveraged trades that can no longer meet collateral requirements. Such liquidations can accelerate a decline when exchanges sell assets or close long positions into an already weakening market.

The pressure has intensified in recent hours. CoinGlass recorded nearly $700 million in liquidations over four hours, including $650 million in long positions. Overall, 166,769 traders were liquidated during the 24-hour period.

Ethereum leads the over $1 billion liquidation rout

Although Bitcoin's slide has dominated market attention, Ethereum has suffered the largest liquidation losses among major cryptocurrencies.