Bitcoin rebounded sharply during Asian trading hours on Friday after a renewed wave of selling briefly pushed the world’s largest cryptocurrency toward the closely watched $60,000 level. The sudden dip extended a brutal drawdown that has now taken bitcoin more than 50% below its October peak, highlighting the continued volatility gripping the crypto market.
BTC slid as much as 4.8% to around $60,033 during late U.S. trading before staging a swift recovery, climbing as high as $65,926 within hours. The move followed Thursday’s 13% plunge, bitcoin’s steepest one-day decline since November 2022, when the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX exchange sparked widespread panic across digital asset markets. This time, the sell-off again underscored how sensitive bitcoin remains to leverage and broader risk sentiment.
The rebound coincided with another surge in liquidations, which helped flush out overextended positions. Data from CoinGlass shows that roughly $700 million in crypto bets were wiped out over a four-hour window, including about $530 million in long positions and $170 million in shorts. This pattern suggests traders were forced out during the drop and then caught offside as prices snapped higher, reinforcing the whipsaw conditions dominating the market.
Spot buying also appeared to emerge near $60,000, a psychological support level that traders have monitored for weeks. Damien Loh, chief investment officer at Ericsenz Capital, said the bounce signals “strong support” around that zone, while cautioning that overall sentiment remains fragile amid ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty and weak risk appetite.
Altcoins closely tracked bitcoin’s volatility. Solana, for example, fell as much as 14% before fully erasing those losses within hours, illustrating how quickly sentiment can flip when liquidity thins and forced selling accelerates. The broader crypto market has remained shaky since liquidation-driven turmoil in October rattled confidence.
Bitcoin’s weakness is also spilling into corporate balance sheets. Strategy, led by Michael Saylor, reported a $12.4 billion net loss for the fourth quarter, largely due to mark-to-market declines in its bitcoin holdings. Despite Friday’s rebound, traders say the market still appears driven more by leverage than long-term conviction, keeping bitcoin price volatility firmly in focus.
