The original cryptocurrency fell as much as 2.9% to US$76,009 on Monday, the lowest since April 30, before paring some losses. It was hovering around US$77,000. Other tokens, including Ether and Solana, also fell.
Bitcoin’s price slumped as cryptocurrencies across the board saw nearly US$500 million in liquidations of bullish bets within 15 minutes during early Asia trading on Monday, according to Coinglass data. More than US$800 million in bullish positions were unwound in the past 24 hours, Coinglass data show.
The token has been under pressure in recent days as uncertainty around the US war with Iran weighed on risk assets. Wall Street saw a volatile session, with stocks and oil whipsawing as traders parsed mixed signals about prospects for a US-Iran deal to end the war and revive energy flows through the key Strait of Hormuz.
US-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds saw more than US$1 billion in outflows last week for the first time since late January.
“Bitcoin’s pullback is a macro story,” said Rachael Lucas, an analyst at BTC Markets. “Risk appetite has repriced, and Bitcoin is moving with it.”
Meanwhile, Strategy Inc said it acquired US$2.01 billion of Bitcoin in the seven days ended May 17. That was the highest total in four weeks by Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin accumulator.
The former MicroStrategy funded the bulk of the purchases with the proceeds from the sale of US$1.95 billion of its Stretch perpetual preferred shares.
The former enterprise software maker also sold US$83.7 million in common stock. Strategy owns about US$64 billion in Bitcoin, making it the largest corporate holder of the digital currency.
Shares of Strategy fell 6.1% to US$166.63, while other crypto-related companies also declined. Coinbase Global Inc dropped 31% and Circle Internet Group Inc slipped 2.3%.
Bitcoin liquidations were triggered as the cryptocurrency fell through a key support level around US$77,800. Structural support remains between US$76,000 and US$76,800, Lucas said, while a close above US$80,000 “would be the first meaningful signal that selling pressure is exhausting.”
Bearish bets were concentrated at US$77,500 with traders buying about US$38 million in Bitcoin put options for May 18 expiry, according to Deribit data, underscoring negative sentiment.
The sudden fall in Bitcoin prices “appears to have triggered a stop run in the absence of any macro headlines,” said Sean McNulty, Asia-Pacific derivatives trading lead at FalconX. The weakness was “compounded by lingering downside hedging from last week,” he added.