Exchanges wipe out $2 billion overnight as Bitcoin dips below $81,000 — What today’s pain tells us about next move

Risk assets were again under pressure as Bitcoin fell below $85,000, prompting the liquidation of more than $2 billion in crypto derivatives within 24 hours.

BTC briefly rebounded to near $85,000 at the beginning of the week, but the recovery momentum was weak as it fell to $81,600 overnight.

Bitcoin liquidation amount reached $2 billion overnight

More than $2 billion of crypto derivatives were liquidated in the past 24 hours, according to data from CoinGlass, and the size of the forced unwinding grew further as volatility increased.

Most of that was due to long positions, with long liquidations totaling around $1.86 billion, compared to around $140 million for short positions, according to CoinGlass data.

The 1-hour and 4-hour panels on the same dashboard show that the cascade arrives in waves rather than a single print, which is consistent with the market commentary of a decline through multiple support levels rather than a sudden crash.

CoinGlass’ exchange heatmap shows that flashes were concentrated on Bybit and Hyperliquid, which together accounted for more than half of the notional value lost in 24 hours.

Bybit, Hyperliquid, and Binance had the heaviest books, followed by HTX and OKX. Here is the distribution of major venues in the latest 24-hour window:

On the asset side, CoinGlass’ symbol heatmap shows BTC accounting for around $1.01 billion of the 24-hour total, ETH nearly $423 million, and SOL over $100 million.

This pattern fits into a classic beta ladder where benchmark futures take the first hit and then large alternative pairs follow suit as margin calls propagate to retail-heavy venues. The remaining “Other” bucket on the treemap is occupied by smaller caps, but their conceptual contributions remain modest compared to the top three names.

Traders remain in extreme fear

Sentiment indicators are changing in parallel with deleveraging. According to the latest measurements cited by market trackers, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index sits in the “extreme fear” band of approximately 10-15.

This is one of the lowest numbers since the early stages of the current cycle and comes less than a month after the same gauge spent time in “greedy” territory near all-time highs. Such a sudden change does not in itself indicate a capitulation or a decision on the floor, but it confirms that the positioning and mood has switched from momentum-seeking to capital preservation in a short period of time.

The spot market background helps explain why the $85,000 break drew such a strong reaction from derivatives books. The US Spot Bitcoin ETF saw record net outflows in November, with more than $3 billion leaving the group so far.

These vehicles absorbed new issuance and secondary sales during the previous adjustment. Without this stable bidding, the decline will rely even more heavily on discretionary buyers and short-term traders. As redemptions continue, the buffer that once absorbed forced sales from purp shrinks, so the impact of a wave of liquidations on prices increases.

In the futures market, Coinglass’ BTC futures index showed funding rates compressing toward neutrality across major exchanges, with some stocks briefly turning negative but not reversing sustainably.

Open interest has also retreated from September and October highs, which some analytics platforms were already showing as a seven-month peak.

With funding currently only marginally positive, longs are being paid much less to hold their exposure, which typically indicates speculative leverage is being reduced rather than being aggressively rebuilt.

The reduction in open interest confirms that some leverage has left the system, which may reduce the risk of a crash, but it also means there is less immediate firepower available for a sharp rally until new positions are added.

The options market leans toward protection rather than an outright bullish bet. Deribit’s DVOL index has climbed into the low 60s on an implied volatility basis, while short-term skew data from tools such as Lavitas shows a premium for put options over equivalent calls.

According to Deribit metrics, traders are paying for the downward convexity of the front of the curve, which leaves dealers short gamma near nearby strikes. This structure can amplify intraday movements around levels such as $82,000 to $88,000, as even small spot flows force hedging in the same direction as price movements.

Bitcoin notable prices

Key spot levels now constitute a near-term scenario. The previous $85,000 support became the first area bulls needed to regain in order to ease the pressure from liquidations and reduce the incentive for short sellers to rely on the security.

The $82,000 to $79,000 pocket below combines the large node and round number psychology of many on-chain and order book tools. On overhead, the $90,000 to $94,000 range shows the area of ​​the final breakdown, which includes significant open interest in short-term call options on Deribit.

Macro conditions add further headwinds. The U.S. dollar index held steady month-over-month, with the 10-year Treasury yield hovering around 4.1% to 4.2%, consistent with a Reuters poll that expects only modest gains next year.

Historically, crypto rallies have struggled when both the dollar and real yields rise at the same time, as risk assets compete with safer capital instruments.

The decline in stocks and other growth indicators this month has reinforced the sense that cryptocurrencies are once again trading as high beta versions of broader risk sentiment, rather than individual store-of-value trades.

From here, market participants are charting three broad paths for the coming weeks.

In the base case, Bitcoin chops between about $82,000 and $90,000, while ETF outflows are modest, funds remain flat, and DVOL stabilizes as weekly options roll off.

A more bearish path would see repeated failures to hold or recapture $85,000, leading to increased liquidity into the low $70,000s where options interest and spot support gather.

A more constructive setup would include a guaranteed recovery of $85,000, a conversion to net inflows to US ETFs on the far side dashboard, and mitigation of the put skew, which could leave the short vulnerable to a return to the low $90,000s.

For now, the liquidation map shows where the first wave of pain has landed, and funds, flows and volatility will indicate whether that flush paved the way for consolidation or set the stage for the next round.