Bitcoin fell below $95,000 for the first time in about six months as a wave of risk aversion swept across markets, with investors pulling nearly $900 million from exchange traded funds.
Bitcoin fell to a low of $94,455 on Friday, extending its drop from the Nov. 11 high of $107,482 into the fourth day.
With the current sell-off, Bitcoin is on the verge of wiping out its gains for the year, dropping as much as 7% in the last 24 hours. Bitcoin traded at a record high of $126,251 in early October and ended the past year, 2024, at $93,714.
“Bitcoin black friday,” Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino posted in a tweet in apparent reaction to Bitcoin’s surprising price drop.
The sell-off across the crypto market has prompted more than $1.38 billion in liquidations, about half of which occurred on Bitcoin trading pairs, according to CoinGlass. Bitcoin accounted for $676 million out of this total figure; the largest single wipeout on the market was a $44 million BTC long on HTX.
Crypto market under strain
The crypto market remains under strain after $19 billion in liquidations on Oct. 10, which in turn erased over $1 trillion from the total market value of all cryptocurrencies.
According to CoinGlass data, the recent liquidation event impacted mostly longs, which accounted for $1.21 billion, while shorts came in at $157.36 million. A total of 278,152 traders were affected in the last market downturn.
Economic data from China and fading hopes for a Federal Reserve rate cut contributed to the downturn on the crypto and equity markets.
Meanwhile, Tether’s dominance rate has reached its highest level since April. This remains significant as, oftentimes, a surge in USDT dominance has been highlighted as a key feature of Bitcoin bear markets.
According to CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju, it might be too early to call a Bitcoin bear market unless the $94,000 cost basis is broken. “Those who entered Bitcoin 6 to 12 months ago have a cost basis near 94,000.Personally, I do not think the bear cycle is confirmed unless we lose that level. I would rather wait than jump to conclusions,” the CryptoQuant CEO stated.