Bitcoin Crashes Below $81,000 as $489 Million in Leveraged Bets Are Liquidated

Bitcoin tumbled through the $81,000 support level on Thursday, triggering $489 million in forced liquidations within a single hour as a confluence of government asset transfers, geopolitical tensions, and hawkish Federal Reserve signals converged to shake cryptocurrency markets.

The world's largest digital asset fell to roughly $81,000 on Bitstamp, its lowest level since September 21, according to TradingView data. The breakdown below the $82,500 range floor that had held for the past month came as traders grappled with three separate catalysts: a $1.01 billion Bitcoin transfer linked to U.S. government seizure wallets, reports that the White House was weighing pre-midterm military strikes on Iran, and meeting minutes showing Fed officials expect another rate hike before year-end.

Arkham data showed Thursday that wallets connected to the U.S. government moved 12,267 BTC from a Bitfinex hack seizure wallet to new, unlabeled addresses. The absence of any exchange deposit in the transaction pointed to wallet reshuffling rather than an outright sale, but the move followed heavier exchange-bound activity a day earlier, when roughly 3,200 BTC worth about $264 million, along with $119 million in USDT, landed at Coinbase Prime deposit addresses. Those funds traced back to wallets tied to the FTX/Alameda and Bitfinex seizures.