Bitcoin’s Fall to $68,408 Triggers $1.47 Billion in Liquidations
Key Facts
Bitcoin fell to $68,408 at 12:10 a.m. Eastern time on Friday, November 13, down 7% in 24 hours and at its lowest level since August 20. The decline came amid widespread liquidations of leveraged cryptocurrency positions, totaling $1.47 billion over 24 hours, according to data reported by The Block citing CoinGlass. The liquidations affected 175,299 traders, with long positions accounting for the largest share, at $1.31 billion. The scale of long-position liquidations indicates that the decline pressured traders betting on rising prices and that closing their positions added further sell orders. The market move therefore extended beyond the cryptocurrency’s price decline alone to include a rapid reduction in borrowed exposure across the crypto market.
Liquidations accelerated over the shorter term, reaching $798 million in the four hours before The Block’s report, including $718.5 million in long positions. This concentration reflects that most of the positions forcibly closed were positioned to benefit from rising prices, rather than falling prices. The report quoted an analyst as saying that Bitcoin’s break below $70,000 accelerated the liquidation of accumulated long positions. This came as the cryptocurrency traded below that threshold, before reaching $68,408 in the cited reading. The difference between total liquidations over four hours and over 24 hours shows that the wave of closures was concentrated in the period before the report.
Selling pressure extended to U.S. spot Bitcoin funds, which recorded net outflows of about $299.8 million on November 11, marking a fifth consecutive session of withdrawals. Outflows from BlackRock’s IBIT fund totaled about $269.7 million that day. Across the five sessions from November 5 to 11, combined withdrawals from the funds reached $1.44 billion. These figures show fund flows over those specific periods; they do not establish outflows from IBIT exceeding $2 billion. The withdrawals came as Bitcoin’s price was heading toward its lowest level since August, adding another indication of fading demand through spot investment channels.
The Fear and Greed Index stood at 20 on November 13, in the extreme fear category, after reaching 28 the previous day, in the fear category. This reading coincided with the U.S. dollar index rising above 103 to its highest level in about 19 months, according to Altcoin Buzz. In the United States, the consumer price index rose 0.4% in October from a month earlier, compared with expectations for a 0.3% increase, while the core index rose 0.3%, against expectations of 0.2%. The Block said expectations of a Federal Reserve rate increase weighed on market sentiment and also cited the implications of Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang’s departure. The Federal Open Market Committee left the rate range at 3.75% to 4% in its October 28 decision, while two members preferred a quarter-percentage-point increase; its statement said inflation remained elevated and that it was seeking to bring it back to its 2% target.
The October reading came as the monthly increase in the consumer price index slowed to 0.4% from 0.6% in September, while the core index rose 0.3% in October. The U.S. producer price index for October was scheduled for release on Friday, November 13, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, as the next inflation update awaited by markets. The release marked the next point for tracking price data after the consumer reading, while rate expectations remained among the factors the report cited in explaining market pressure. Bitcoin had closed at $71,460 on November 12, according to EL7 data, before falling to $68,408 in the early Friday reading. This comparison between the previous close and the subsequent reading provides context for the size of the move during the session, while the awaited producer data remained a focus that day.