Bitcoin’s wild ride took another dip Monday, sliding to about $115,000 just days after hitting a new all-time high near $125,000 — its fourth record this year. The pullback came as jittery investors booked profits and a wave of forced liquidations rippled through the crypto market.
According to data from CoinGlass, more than 133,000 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours, totaling nearly $576 million. Of that, around $124 million came from long bitcoin bets, while ether longs lost about $184 million. Translation: when traders couldn’t cover their margins, their positions were automatically sold — and that heavy selling pushed prices down even further.
Bitcoin wasn’t the only coin feeling the heat. Ether dropped 3% to around $4,325, after nearly reclaiming its 2021 record last week. The broader market also wobbled, with the CoinDesk 20 index down nearly 4%, dragging the total crypto market cap below $4 trillion. Crypto-linked stocks like Bitmine Immersion and Coinbase sank too, adding to the red screens.
The selloff wasn’t just about traders cashing out. Fresh economic worries are stealing the spotlight from crypto’s institutional adoption story. Higher-than-expected inflation data in July reignited questions about whether the Federal Reserve will actually cut rates in September. And with Fed Chair Jerome Powell set to speak at the Jackson Hole symposium this week, investors are bracing for clues on the central bank’s next moves.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent added to the gloom, clarifying that President Trump’s much-hyped bitcoin reserve will be limited to coins seized or forfeited to the government — not fresh purchases. That news undercut some of the bullish sentiment around Washington’s role in crypto adoption.
Despite the turbulence, many in the space aren’t panicking. Pullbacks after record highs are seen as a normal — even healthy — breather. Crypto ETFs are still showing strong inflows: last week bitcoin funds pulled in $547 million, while ether ETFs notched a record $2.9 billion, marking their 14th straight week of gains.
Orbit Markets’ Caroline Mauron summed it up:
“We’ve seen continued profit-taking since the new all-time high. The momentum from the crypto treasury boom is losing steam, but this looks more like a cooldown than a crisis.”
For now, bitcoin is still sitting well above its summer lows, but with macro headwinds in focus and the Fed’s next move looming, traders may be in for a choppier ride as August rolls on.
Would you like me to punch this up with a “what to watch next” section for traders heading into Jackson Hole and September?
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