Bitcoin The two-way price action is squeezing leveraged bullish and bearish plays, underscoring the challenging market conditions for traders.
In the last 24 hours, the price of BTC has swung between $107,000 and $113,000, wiping out approximately $600 million in bullish and bearish futures bets across the market. The wave of liquidations came as traders reduced leverage on major exchanges, with data from CoinGlass showing approximately $355 million in long positions and $301 million in short positions closed in 24 hours.
Bitcoin accounted for the majority of the damage at over $340 million, followed by ether. at 200 million dollars. solarium , and rounded out the biggest losers, each of whom saw tens of millions in forced liquidations.
These surges are common after large price swings. Leveraged positions on perpetual futures exchanges are automatically closed when traders’ margin levels fall below maintenance thresholds, often causing cascading price movements as positions are sold illiquidly.
Large sell-offs serve as critical indicators of short-term turning points in market sentiment.
“Despite Bitcoin’s sharp pullback over the past 24 hours, positioning on our futures platform has actually continued to stabilize,” said Alexia Theodorou, head of derivatives at Kraken. “After hitting a local low on October 6, the long/short ratio of Bitcoin perpetuals has returned to neutral territory.”
“Recent volatility pushed derivatives activity on Kraken to record levels, but despite the prevailing bearish sentiment, our data suggests that many traders view the sell-off as overdone and are cautiously positioning themselves for a potential rally. While sentiment remains fragile, we are seeing a more balanced market emerge after an initial wave of capitulation,” Theodorou added.
The feeling is still fragile
BTC’s sharp pullback from overnight highs above $113,000 marked an abrupt end to the recovery from the October 10 low and is indicative of how fragile sentiment remains heading into the final stretch of October.
Perhaps the market is still digesting the fallout from last month’s deleveraging shock.
“The bulls failed to push the market above recent highs and we are seeing an active short-term downtrend forming,” said Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FxPro.
“Bitcoin at $108,000 has fallen back to its 200-day moving average. The spring scenario of a prolonged consolidation around this line and a fresh breakout now looks like the hopeful case for bulls,” he added.
Major altcoins have followed BTC lower, with ETH holding near $3,870 and SOL falling 9% over the week. BNB and XRP posted smaller gains after outperforming in previous sessions, while memecoins like DOGE saw steeper declines amid declining speculative flows.
“Strong intraday swings in Bitcoin, Ethereum and major altcoins reflect a cautious sentiment in the market,” said Wenny Cai, co-founder and COO of SynFutures. “After yesterday’s brief rally, traders have once again reacted to macroeconomic signals such as rising bond yields, geopolitical uncertainty and tight liquidity. In this type of environment, even small changes in risk appetite trigger outsized moves.”
Despite the red screens, data from Glassnode and ETF flow trackers suggest that structural demand has not plummeted. Spot ETF inflows remain stable, foreign exchange balances are near cycle lows and long-term holders continue to accumulate.
Traders are now eyeing the Federal Reserve meeting on October 29, with most anticipating a 25 basis point cut in borrowing costs. The central bank cut rates by 25 basis points in September.
