Crypto Market Crash: Bitcoin Tumbles Below $108,000 as Leveraged Liquidations Pile Up

Bitcoin fell below the $108,000 mark on Thursday, sparking fresh volatility across crypto markets and triggering roughly $714 million in liquidations over a 24-hour period. This comes as highly leveraged traders were forced out of positions, data and market reports show.

The slide dragged down major altcoins and revived fears that the market’s recent rally may be losing steam.

The rout follows an even larger purge of leverage earlier this month, a mid-October event that erased roughly $19 billion of positions across crypto markets, and which analysts say left the market more fragile to further shocks.

That earlier wave of forced selling was tied to abrupt geopolitical news and heavy shorting in derivatives venues.

The Fall

Market-data trackers reportedly recorded a sharp spike in liquidation activity and open interest in futures markets as short sellers and margin liquidations amplified downward price pressure.

Analysts observing derivatives flows noted that short perpetual sellers dominated some offshore venues during the collapse, while spot buyers on US exchanges provided uneven support, a pattern that accentuated intraday swings. The rapid unwinding widened losses across leading tokens including Ethereum, Solana and BNB.

Institutional Flows & Macro Context

Institutional demand also cooled. Recent ETF flows showed outflows from some US spot-Bitcoin funds in the run-up to the slump, signalling weaker large-ticket buying that had previously helped stabilise prices.

At the same time, broader market anxieties, from renewed geopolitical tensions to higher yields in bond markets, pushed risk assets lower and reduced appetite for crypto exposure.

Traders reportedly say $108,000 is the immediate make-or-break support; a decisive move below it could expose lower support near about $104,000 and the $99,000–$100,000 area cited by on-chain analysts.

Conversely, reclaiming roughly $112,000 would be a first step toward stabilising sentiment and drawing sidelined buyers back in. CryptoQuant analysts have warned that failure to get above $112,000 quickly would raise the likelihood of a deeper corrective phase.

Market Reaction

The liquidations hit both long and short positions, though long-leveraged traders bore the brunt of the latest flush; exchanges and derivatives-data providers reported hundreds of thousands of positions closed over recent days, with rapid, cascade-style selling evident across major trading venues. That forced-selling dynamic tends to deepen drawdowns in already low-liquidity periods.

Views on this are mixed. Some market participants see the pullback as a painful but healthy reset that clears excess leverage and creates buying opportunities for longer-term holders. Others caution that, until macro uncertainties abate and institutional flows return, volatility will remain elevated and downside risks persist.

Traders will be watching ETF flows, derivatives open interest, and macro headlines for cues on whether the market can rebuild a durable bid.