BTC, ETH, and XRP Crash Again as Liquidation Wave Hits $1 Billion

The cryptocurrency market started the new business week on the wrong foot again, with BTC falling to a new multi-month low of $73,500.

This time, the leading altcoin was hit even harder, as it came within inches of plunging below $2,000 for the first time since mid-August.

The crypto market is in ruins again

The month of November was quite painful for the entire market, which already ended October with massive declines, especially following the massive Binance hack at the end of the month. Last week saw another highly volatile session following the conclusion of the US midterm elections, in which BTC initially fell from $78,000 to $75,600, before exploding to $81,000, only to be rejected again and crash below $75,000.

It rebounded over the weekend and remained relatively stable at $76,000 despite new attacks between the United States and Iran. However, the swings returned on Monday morning and, unlike most previous instances, the bears regained control. A few hours ago, BTC collapsed to its lowest level since the rally began in mid-August at $73,500. Despite some recovery in ground since then, the cryptocurrency is still below $74,500.

Most altcoins saw even more painful declines, including ETH, which fell below $2,100. XRP fell to $1.09 at press time, while it dropped to $1.06. PI fell to a new all-time low, while RAY, ASTER, STX and LIT fell 6% or slightly more.

Liquidations on the rise

As usual, these intense market movements hurt overleveraged traders. In fact, CoinGlass data shows that over 155,000 of these market participants were destroyed in the last 24 hours. The total value of liquidated positions exceeded $1 billion, with long positions accounting for more than $930 million.

ETH is among the most volatile crypto assets today, and liquidated long positions are leading the pack, well above BTC at $455 million. The largest cleared position also involved the leading altcoin. It was a huge project worth almost $50 million, and it took place on Binance.