Bitcoin fell 3.1% to $77,000 from $79,500, wiping out $547 million in leveraged positions. The retracement followed a two-week rally that had squeezed short sellers, and the next test sits at the $80,000 mark with a supply zone at $82,000 to $84,000.
Bitcoin fell 3.1% to $77,000 from $79,500, wiping out $547 million in leveraged positions as a two-week rally stalled.
CoinGlass data shows the $547 million in liquidations clustered in the 12 hours around the retracement, with long positions accounting for the bulk of forced selling after traders piled in near the top.
The pullback followed a sharp ascent that had squeezed bearish traders. Bitcoin climbed from roughly $64,000 to $65,000 earlier in August to $79,500, liquidating between $1 billion and $3.5 billion in short positions over various 24-hour windows, per CoinGlass. On Hyperliquid, individual liquidation events ranged from $23 million to $48 million per trade.
The next test sits at the psychological $80,000 mark, with a supply zone at $82,000 to $84,000 on the daily chart. A sustained move through $84,000 would open the door toward $96,000 to $98,000, while a retracement to $72,000 to $75,000 would still count as a normal post-breakout retest.
The rally that set up the retracement drew on macro tailwinds. The US Treasury expanded its long-term bond buyback operations to more than $4 billion from about $2 billion, and the Trump administration issued frameworks favoring crypto exchange compliance, giving institutional players more confidence to operate in the space.
The derivatives market has become the primary arena for this volatility. Perpetual futures, which let traders hold leveraged positions without expiration, offer 50x and 100x leverage to anyone with a wallet. 2026 has already recorded multiple liquidation cascades, with single days seeing $1 billion to over $3 billion in losses.
The scale of short liquidations during Bitcoin's climb suggests much bearish positioning has been washed out. But the $547 million in long liquidations on the retrace shows the long side can crowd just as quickly. A 3% pullback should not threaten a well-managed position, but at high leverage even small moves become lethal.
Bitcoin's Bull Score has moved back above 60, entering bullish territory for the first time since October 2025, with six of 10 underlying signals positive, including demand growth, stablecoin liquidity and trader realized price. The MVRV ratio has also turned up sharply, a trajectory historically seen when prolonged downside phases transition into stronger advances.
Ethereum, the largest altcoin, traded above $2,500 after $512 million in US spot ETF inflows over four days and a $1.69 billion short squeeze, per CoinGecko data. The broader crypto market value rose from $2.1 trillion to $2.5 trillion during the rally.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
