The fall of cryptocurrencies today: Why did Bitcoin drop below $67K

The decline of cryptocurrencies today marked a new point of pressure in the digital market. With Bitcoin trading at $66,940 and down 1.30% in the last 24 hours, the cascade effect quickly spread throughout the industry. Ethereum retreated 0.98%, Solana showed a 2.96% pullback, and XRP fell 1.07%, reflecting the weakness dominating the main assets.

The numbers reveal a deeper story: this is not just a single panic event, but a series of pressures building up over weeks. Liquidations totaled approximately $237 million in just the last 24 hours, while the entire week recorded $2.16 billion in liquidated positions. For the month so far, this number has already reached $4.4 billion.

Cascading liquidations trigger mass selling

The true origin of today’s cryptocurrency decline lies in the leverage mechanisms of the derivatives market. When Bitcoin broke important support levels, it triggered a chain reaction of forced closures. Open interest in perpetual futures plummeted about 4.4% in just one day, eliminating roughly $26 billion in leveraged exposure.

This deleveraging trend is not recent. Throughout the previous month, total open interest in derivatives decreased by approximately 34%. This means traders have been systematically reducing their leveraged positions for weeks, and today’s drop is just the culmination of this gradual risk withdrawal process.

The mechanism is well known: liquidations convert closed positions into automatic market orders, creating immediate selling pressure. With Bitcoin dominating derivatives volume, this pressure quickly propagates to altcoins, forcing traders to broadly reduce risks in their portfolios.

Fear and deleveraging: the sentiment behind the drop

Beyond the mechanical liquidation issues, the cryptocurrency decline today reflects a clear shift in market sentiment. Major Bitcoin holders are facing significant unrealized losses — for example, the Strategy team holds a declining exposure of about $900 million. Such situations often generate fears of selling pressure without confirmation, amplifying nervousness among smaller investors.

Risk aversion is not limited to the crypto universe. European stock markets also show weakness, and concerns over tighter monetary policies have intensified global caution. When multiple asset classes suffer pressure simultaneously, the appetite for speculative exposure in cryptocurrencies shrinks drastically.

Market sentiment has fallen to extreme fear levels. With altcoins under heavy stress and Bitcoin setting the direction for the rest of the market, volatility remains high, and rebounds struggle to stabilize.

Where Bitcoin might find support in the next steps

Technical analysis points to critical levels that deserve attention. The $75,000 support was considered important, but with Bitcoin falling to $66,940, the next defense zone gains relevance. A recovery above these levels would be a positive sign of possible stabilization.

If Bitcoin cannot sustain above the identified support points, $70,000 becomes the next area of interest. For the broader market, recovery fundamentally depends on Bitcoin halting its decline and liquidations slowing down. Until then, high volatility is expected, with weak rebounds and difficulty consolidating gains.

The cryptocurrency decline today can be summarized as a multifactorial phenomenon: cascading liquidations, accelerated deleveraging, and an unfavorable macro climate. It is not short-term panic, but the culmination of weeks of gradual risk reduction. Market recovery largely depends on the stability Bitcoin can demonstrate in upcoming moves and the normalization of global risk sentiment.