"$800 million wiped out in an hour"…Bitcoin suddenly breaks below $82,000

The cryptoasset (cryptocurrency) market was swiftly swept up in “panic selling.” Bitcoin plunged by more than $2,000 in just five minutes, breaking below a key support level, and accounts of investors who had bet on the upswing (long positions) were liquidated in succession.

According to Binance’s Tether (USDT) market on the 29th (local time), Bitcoin (BTC) fell more than $2,000 within five minutes intraday as of 10:40 a.m., breaking below the $82,000 level. The decline from the previous day widened to as much as 8%. Ethereum (ETH), the leading altcoin, also failed to withstand the wave of selling, slipping below $2,700 and tumbling more than 9.2% over 24 hours.

The sudden drop triggered a wave of liquidations in futures positions as well. CoinGlass data show that in the hour immediately following the price plunge, roughly $776 million worth of positions were forcibly liquidated across exchanges worldwide.

Of that, $766 million—98%—was in long positions that had anticipated a price rise. The sudden surge in selling is seen as having triggered a cascade of long liquidations, which in turn pushed prices down further, creating a vicious cycle.

Looking at the past 24 hours, the damage is substantial. A total of 274,884 investors were liquidated globally over the day, with wiped-out assets totaling $1.742 billion.