Cryptocurrency markets are tumbling and liquidations are piling up for overleveraged traders on derivatives exchanges.
According to data from ByBit, there has been $2.38 billion in total liquidations over the past 24 hours. Over half of that total, or $1.26 billion, has been from bitcoin positions as the asset has continued its free fall.
The largest day for Bitcoin long position liquidations was on April 17, 2021, a few days after its all-time high when over $9 billion disappeared. April 22 and May 12 also saw large Bitcoin liquidation figures according to derivatives exchanges.
Datamish has revealed that $34 million in longs have been liquidated on BitMEX over the past 24 hours and 417 BTC was liquidated on Bitfinex.
Bitcoin dumps on Musk attack
The massive liquidation has been caused by increased selling pressure on the back of a crypto social media skirmish involving Elon Musk who appears to have done a complete u-turn on his pro-Bitcoin stance.
The billionaire entrepreneur has faced increased criticisms recently over his blatant pumping of Dogecoin markets and recent claim to go “all-in on DOGE” following more reproach. Crypto experts and investment professionals, such as Ari Paul, have objected to the veiled market manipulation:
“Go for it. You’re free to do as you wish with your money. Many of us object to your misleading of new retail investors though.”
At the time of press, BTC was trading at $44,400 — a 10% decline from its price the same time yesterday.
Crypto market bleeding
The rest of the market has followed along as it usually does. Many large-cap coins have lost double-digit percentages on the day. Ethereum has lost almost 12% in a fall back to $3,400 while Binance Coin (BNB) has tumbled 10% to $525.
XRP, Polkadot, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Uniswap, Chainlink, and Stellar have all been hit by double-digit losses as panic selling accelerates.
The total crypto market capitalization has declined by a whopping $300 billion in less than 24 hours, dropping back to $2 trillion at the time of press. This is the lowest the market cap has been since April 26 and there are looming fears that further losses could spell the end of the 2021 bull market.
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