Bitcoin’s price fell below $75,000 for the first time since mid-April, triggering a broad decline in the digital asset.
Data from CryptoSlate showed the largest digital asset fell more than 3% over the past 24 hours to a low of $74,255, after trading above $77,000 earlier in the session. The move returned Bitcoin to a price zone last seen in April, when the market was still recovering from a broader reset in risk assets.
The decline also spread across the broader crypto market, where Ethereum fell about 5% to around $2,065, while Hyperliquid, one of the strongest performers in recent weeks, fell more than 7% to around $55.
Other major digital assets including XRP, Cardano, BNB, Solana and Dogecoin also traded lower as selling pressure intensified in the market.
The reversal came despite recent regulatory momentum around the CLARITY Act, which had helped bolster expectations that a clearer U.S. market structure could attract more capital to the sector.
Instead, market data showed traders have shifted attention back to demand, money flows and leverage after Bitcoin failed to hold the $75,000 level.
Demand for BTC spots decreases as ETFs become sellers
Market analysts attribute the decline to a combination of technical exhaustion and a sharp decline in institutional interest.
Julio Moreno, CryptoQuant’s head of research, said spot demand for Bitcoin was shrinking at the fastest pace since Jan. 10, indicating a weakening foundation for the market as the price tested a critical technical zone.
That pressure is evident in the US spot Bitcoin ETFs, which have recorded cumulative outflows of more than $2 billion over the past two weeks. The withdrawals mark one of the fastest two-week exits from the funds and remove a source of demand that had helped stabilize Bitcoin during earlier phases of the rally.
The shift in ETF flows is important because spot funds had served as one of the main channels for institutional allocation to Bitcoin.
When these funds receive inflows, issuers typically need to acquire Bitcoin to support the issuance of new shares. As funds flow out, that support could reverse, making the market more dependent on outright spot buying and derivatives positioning.
Ultimately, Bitcoin’s latest pullback came after the asset encountered resistance near levels that had previously capped rebounds.
With spot market demand weakening and ETF flows turning negative, the move above $77,000 lacks the follow through needed to sustain a move above the $75,000 threshold.
Nearly $1 billion in positions liquidated
The drop below $75,000 triggered a sharp liquidation wave in the crypto derivatives markets, where traders using leverage were forced out as prices moved through key levels.
Facts from Coinglass shows that $941 million in derivatives positions were liquidated from the market within 24 hours, impacting more than 161,200 individual traders as prices cut through key support levels.
Bitcoin-linked contracts were the hardest hit, enduring more than $378 million in liquidations. Ethereum derivatives traders saw approximately $255 million in positions forcibly closed.
The largest liquidation order across all platforms occurred on the Bitget exchange, where a $32.4 million Bitcoin swap contract was wiped out.
Meanwhile, bullish traders have absorbed the vast majority of the financial damage. Liquidations of long positions, which assume prices will continue to rise, accounted for about $870 million of the total outflow. In contrast, traders with short positions lost only $71.4 million.
The imbalance between long and short liquidations shows that the market was positioned for higher prices before the sell-off.
However, as the Bitcoin price lost nearly $75,000 support, forced selling compounded the pressure already created by ETF outflows and weaker spot market demand.
Bitcoin Risk Metrics Indicate Peak Pessimism
Following these developments, BTC’s on-chain metrics suggest that the market is entering a phase of significant historical stress that could further impact the price.
Joao Wedson, CEO of data analytics company Alpharactal, marked a difference in the risk-adjusted performance of the market’s two largest assets.
According to Wedson, Bitcoin’s annualized Sharpe ratio has turned negative, indicating an environment of increased pressure and poor return efficiency relative to underlying risk. Ethereum’s Sharpe ratio, meanwhile, hovers around zero, indicating a neutral environment that offers investors no clear premium for taking on exposure.
While the data paints a bleak picture in the short term, Wedson noted a historical caveat. Extended periods when the Sharpe ratio remains below zero typically represent the worst risk-reward phases of the market, but these periods of intense pessimism and low efficiency have often coincided with cyclical market bottoms.
The analytics firm warned that current metrics do not guarantee the market has reached a definitive bottom.
However, the data confirms that digital assets have entered a zone of extreme risk, stress and depressed sentiment.