Bitcoin’s Price Plummets Below $115,000 in Recent Market Turmoil
Bitcoin experienced a significant drop below $115,000 on August 1, marking its lowest level since July 11. This decline came after a period of intense volatility in the cryptocurrency market. The drop from its peak of $123,000 on July 14 to $114,000 represented a 7% pullback, highlighting the unstable nature of the market in late July.
The early part of July saw a remarkable surge in Bitcoin’s price. Within a span of 24 hours on July 10 and 11, the cryptocurrency jumped from $110,000 to $118,000, a 7.2% increase. This sudden spike led to a wave of liquidations in derivatives markets and sparked speculation about heightened institutional interest.
Following this surge, Bitcoin continued its upward trajectory and reached an all-time high of $123,000 on July 14. However, this level proved to be a temporary barrier as the cryptocurrency struggled to maintain bullish momentum. Despite several attempts to consolidate above $118,000 throughout the latter half of July, Bitcoin failed to sustain its upward trend.
The period of consolidation saw a narrowing range of intraday fluctuations, signaling weakening buying pressure. Traders attributed this stall to profit-taking by early investors and cautious positioning ahead of the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold interest rates at 4.4%.
The recent correction in Bitcoin’s price was exacerbated by over-leveraged positions in perpetual contracts. Liquidation data revealed that more than $705 million in long positions were liquidated across major exchanges in the past 24 hours, with Binance and Bybit accounting for over 67% of the total.
These liquidations coincided with Bitcoin’s drop below $115,000, intensifying the downward momentum and pushing the price to levels not seen since the July 10 rally. Additional data shows that over $12 million in BTC-specific liquidations occurred in the past hour, confirming a cascade of leverage unwinds.
Despite the recent sell-off, Bitcoin’s price remains up over 8% since the beginning of July. If the cryptocurrency breaks below the $113,500-$114,000 support region, there is a risk of revisiting consolidation zones near $110,000. On-chain metrics, such as declining active addresses and decreasing exchange outflows, suggest a short-term bearish outlook, according to data from Glassnode.
The broader altcoin market mirrored Bitcoin’s losses, with Ethereum, Solana, and XRP all experiencing significant declines. Market-wide long liquidations totaled over $680 million, indicating an overwhelmingly long-heavy derivatives landscape prior to the correction. This leverage skew likely contributed to the sharp cascade of losses as high beta assets amplified the impact of falling BTC prices.
The fear and greed index also dropped to ‘neutral’ following Bitcoin’s dip to $114,000 after a period of ‘greed’. Despite the short-term sentiment shift, Bitcoin’s price remains well above its June consolidation range near $100,000 and its 4-month low of $74,000, indicating a bullish long-term outlook amidst the current market turbulence.