Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies tumbled Sunday evening, triggering a wave of forced liquidations across the derivatives market.
The sudden downturn pushed Bitcoin below a key psychological support level and erased hundreds of millions of dollars in leveraged bets within a single day.
The sell-off began around 7:20 p.m. ET, when Bitcoin abruptly reversed its upward trend. Specifically, the asset fell from $67,600 to roughly $64,700 in less than two hours. That move represented a drop of more than 4% in a short span.
As Bitcoin weakened, losses spread quickly across the broader crypto market. Ethereum fell 5.6% over 24 hours to $1,864, while XRP declined 5.4% to $1.33. Meanwhile, Solana recorded the steepest drop among major tokens, plunging 8.5% to $77.75.
The decisive break below $65,000 amplified selling pressure. A large share of traders had been positioned for continued upside, leaving long positions vulnerable as prices turned lower. As stop-loss levels were triggered and margin requirements tightened, liquidations quickly snowballed across exchanges.
Data from CoinGlass showed that approximately $468 million in crypto positions were liquidated over 24 hours. Of that total, $434.34 million came from long positions, underscoring how heavily skewed the market had been toward bullish bets.
In particular, Bitcoin accounted for the largest share of the losses, with approximately $213.62 million in positions erased. Ethereum followed, recording $114.72 million in liquidations over the same period.
Additionally, other large-cap tokens also saw notable forced closures. Solana registered $19.86 million in liquidations, while XRP recorded $10.93 million.
According to CoinGlass, the single largest liquidation occurred on Huobi, where a BTC-USDT position worth $61.51 million was closed during the sell-off.
Beyond price declines, derivatives metrics signaled cooling speculative activity. Blockchain analytics firm Santiment reported that total open interest had fallen to approximately $19.5 billion, less than half the $38.3 billion peak reached on January 14, 2026.
At the same time, Santiment observed that negative sentiment had climbed to its highest level in two weeks. Retail traders reacted swiftly after Bitcoin fell below $65,000, with market psychology shifting toward fear, uncertainty, and doubt.
However, the firm noted that similar spikes in pessimism have historically coincided with short-term market bottoms. This suggests that extreme bearish sentiment can sometimes signal exhaustion in selling pressure.
In parallel, analyst Michaël van de Poppe highlighted a longer-term indicator over the weekend. He shared a chart showing Bitcoin’s Sharpe Ratio had fallen to -38.4.
The Sharpe Ratio measures returns relative to volatility and serves as a proxy for risk-adjusted performance. A deeply negative reading indicates weak performance on a risk-adjusted basis. According to van de Poppe, similar historical readings have coincided with what he views as lower-risk accumulation zones for long-term investors.
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