In recent days, Bitcoin price has had one of its better performances yet in the first quarter of 2026. Catalyzed by rising geopolitical tensions between the US, Israel and Iran, the leading cryptocurrency climbed to $74,000 over the past week.
However, it didn’t take long for the Bitcoin price to retreat below the psychological level of $70,000, confirming that the latest rally was just a relief. With the bearish market structure still in place, it remains to be seen how low the price of BTC will go in the current phase.
$70 million in longs at risk of liquidation
In a new post on social media platform X, crypto analyst Ali Martinez says revealed why a further drop to around $54,000 in the remaining period of this phase is possible and could be bad news for both investors and the Bitcoin price. Therefore, the $54,000 mark could be an extremely crucial region for the flagship cryptocurrency in this bear market.
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Martinez’s evaluation revolves around the Aggregated Liquidation Levels Heatmap metric, which visualizes price zones with high concentrations of long or short liquidations. As expected, the red (hot) color on the map indicates a concentrated liquidation point of several highly leveraged positions, often with high liquidity.
A drop to $54,000 could liquidate more than $70 million worth of Bitcoin $BTC long positions. pic.twitter.com/Ar66Q3Cd20
— Ali Charts (@alicharts) March 7, 2026
These places of high liquidity often have a somewhat magnetic effect, often pulling prices towards them. According to Martinez, this “hot” zone for the Bitcoin price is around $54,000, with more than $70 million in long positions at risk of liquidation.
Normally, a Bitcoin price drop to around $54,000 would cause additional damage to already low market sentiment. Meanwhile, from a technical perspective, the significant liquidation cascade that is likely to occur at that level could lead to a phenomenon called a ‘Long Squeeze’, with the flagship cryptocurrency continuing its decline with renewed momentum.
To be clear, a Long Squeeze typically occurs when the falling price of a cryptocurrency (in this case Bitcoin) forces bull traders to sell their assets to limit their losses or break even. This sell-off catalyzes the ongoing bearish reaction and sends the BTC price further down.
Ultimately, the $54,000 region, which is also around the realized price, seems to be one of the most critical levels for the Bitcoin price trajectory in the coming months.
Bitcoin price at a glance
At the time of writing, the price of BTC stands at around $67,830, reflecting a drop of more than 4% in the past 24 hours. Since hitting a one-month high around $74,000 on Wednesday, March 4, the major cryptocurrency has rebounded by almost 10%.
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Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView