Bitcoin tumbles as $1.18 billion in crypto liquidations hit markets

Bitcoin continued its week-long decline, falling to its lowest level since July, as renewed trade tensions between the US and China and heavy fund outflows forced a new wave of liquidations in the crypto markets.

According to CryptoSlate Data shows Bitcoin fell more than 5% in the past 24 hours to a low of $103,300 after trading near $112,000 earlier this week. Ethereum also lost ground, falling 9% to around $3,600.

Meanwhile, Binance’s BNB fell 11% to $1,048, while XRP, Solana, Dogecoin, Tron and Cardano each lost more than 7% over the same period.

Facts from Coinglass shows that the sell-off has caused approximately $1.18 billion in leveraged liquidations in the past 24 hours. In particular, long traders who speculated on a market recovery suffered the most losses, losing about $917 million of the total.

This achievement comes a week after the crypto market suffered a significant crash that disrupted investor sentiment. On October 10, crypto investors lost nearly $20 billion after President Donald Trump threatened a 100% tariff on China.

What caused Bitcoin’s latest price drop?

The sharp market decline can be linked to a combination of macro and structural triggers impacting the crypto industry.

Analysts at Bitfinex report this CryptoSlate that markets have become increasingly reactive to geopolitical developments. They noted that President Trump’s confirmation of new tariffs has increased fears of economic decoupling.

According to them:

“In the near term, we expect periods of knee-jerk volatility, with any selling pressure in equities spilling over into cryptocurrencies, reducing liquidity and putting pressure on leveraged positions. If yield curves steepen and credit risk premia widen, BTC could see some profit-taking before resuming an upward trajectory.”

Meanwhile, institutional investor sentiment also appears to be deteriorating, with spot Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recording combined outflows of around $600 million.

According to SoSo value factsUS spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded outflows of $536 million on October 16, their largest single-day withdrawal since August.

Ark Invest’s ARKB led the outflows with $275.15 million, followed by Fidelity’s FBTC, which withdrew $132 million. Grayscale’s GBTC and Grayscale Mini BTC products recorded $44.97 million and $22.52 million in outflows, respectively, while BlackRock’s IBIT lost $29.37 million.

Other funds also saw modest declines, including Bitwise’s BITB with $20.58 million and VanEck’s HODL with $6.12 million.

Meanwhile, Invesco’s BTCO, Franklin Templeton’s EZBC, Valkyrie’s BRRR and WisdomTree’s BTCW reported no net flows for the period.

Taking this into consideration, Timothy Misir, head of research at BRN, said CryptoSlate that the shift in demand for ETFs has turned “a temporary lull into a structural headwind.”

He warned that if combined redemptions exceed $1 billion within 48 hours, or if miner sales resume, Bitcoin could test the $96,000 region before stabilizing.