Over the weekend, cryptocurrency markets roiled, with Bitcoin falling below the $26,000 mark. Such price action resulted in this year’s largest liquidation losses to date, totaling more than $800 million in the last 24 hours.
Bitcoin is currently trading at $23,610, a 19% drop from the previous week.
The largest cryptocurrency experienced bearish triggers, causing it to fall to its lowest level since late 2020. By exiting the zone near $30,000, BTC/USD is exiting a macro trading range that has been in place since the beginning of 2021.
In the last 24 hours, crypto futures liquidations totaled $876.27 million. Bitcoin futures traders lost $365 million, while Ether futures traders lost $330 million.
Bitcoin reached an all-time high of more than $69,000 in November 2021 but has since fallen by more than 65%.
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Ethereum, the second most valuable cryptocurrency, was also battered over the weekend.
According to Glassnode, an on-chain analytics provider, the Ethereum market has dropped below the ‘ETH Realized Price’ of $1,781.
During press time on Monday, Ethereum fell to $1,236.41. Ethereum changed hands between an ATH of $4,878.26 in November 2021 and is now down 74%.
The immediate cause of the crypto crash appears to be a massive sell-off by investors in response to rising inflation fears.
The United States’ inflation rate is estimated to be 8.6% in May. The four-decade high inflation increased Bitcoin’s volatility, leading to the current drop to $24,000.
