The cryptocurrency market suffered a sharp and unexpected blow on Tuesday, with more than $2 billion in leveraged positions wiped out within 24 hours as Bitcoin plunged below the key $100,000 mark. The sell-off triggered one of the largest single-day liquidations of the year, exposing how fragile investor confidence remains amid ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty.
Bitcoin briefly dropped to $99,008 before recovering slightly to around $102,000, underscoring the volatility that has defined recent trading sessions. According to data from CoinGlass, the majority of losses came from overexposed long positions, which accounted for $1.68 billion of the total liquidations, while short traders lost roughly $416 million. The largest single liquidation occurred on HTX, where a BTC-USDT trade worth $47.87 million was closed. Across exchanges, 487,501 traders saw their positions forcibly terminated.
At the time of reporting, Bitcoin was trading around $101,922, down 4.6% in 24 hours. Ethereum faced even steeper losses, tumbling nearly 10% to $3,098. Other leading altcoins such as BNB, XRP, and Solana also declined by over 5%. The total crypto market capitalisation fell 4.5% to $3.39 trillion, while trading volume spiked 55% to more than $314 billion as traders rushed to unwind their leverage.
Exchange-level data revealed that Bybit accounted for the largest share of liquidations, with $561 million in positions wiped out — roughly 34% of the total. Hyperliquid followed closely with $446 million, while Binance, OKX, Gate, and HTX also recorded sizable hits. Ethereum and Bitcoin were nearly neck and neck in total liquidations, at $587 million and $581 million, respectively, reflecting how both assets bore the brunt of the market’s latest downturn.
Analysts attributed the crash to shifting macroeconomic sentiment following remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Although the Fed delivered a 25-basis-point rate cut as expected, Powell’s comments dampened market hopes for further easing in December. This shift from a previously “95% priced-in” expectation to just 68% led investors to rapidly rotate out of riskier assets like crypto. As traditional markets wobbled, both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 ended lower, deepening the risk-off mood.
Market maker Wintermute described the pullback as “a re-positioning rather than panic,” noting that some investors had turned overly bullish ahead of the Fed meeting. Crypto exchange BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes warned that volatility could persist, saying traders should preserve capital as liquidity tightens and uncertainty around U.S. fiscal policy lingers.
This latest liquidation wave mirrors the October 10 sell-off, where overleveraged traders were similarly caught off guard. Though Tuesday’s crash was less severe, it once again highlights how leveraged trading amplifies market swings during unstable conditions. With the anniversary of Bitcoin’s 2021 peak approaching, traders now face renewed pressure to navigate a market where small shifts in sentiment can erase billions in value overnight.
