Crypto Market Massacre! Bitcoin drops below $80,000, long liquidation exceeds $1 billion

In the early hours of February 1st, Bitcoin broke below the critical $80,000 mark, touching a low of $79,000 amid intense volatility in the cryptocurrency market. This sharp decline triggered over $270 million in liquidations within just an hour. The breach of key support levels has sounded alarm bells among traders and analysts, who consider $80,000 an important psychological threshold. During this large-scale liquidation event in the crypto market, as of 1 a.m. on February 1st, according to Coinglass data, over $1 billion in long positions were wiped out in the past four hours.

This wave of impact mainly targeted leveraged traders betting on price increases, leading to forced liquidations and further exacerbating the market downturn.

This latest wipeout is a continuation of a series of brutal liquidation events between 2025 and 2026, with global macroeconomic pressures repeatedly triggering chain reactions of sell-offs. Threats of tariffs on imports from Canada and China, potential government shutdowns, and uncertainties around yen interventions have pushed safe-haven funds into gold and silver, while also hitting risk assets like cryptocurrencies. Weekend trading volumes were weak, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, uncertainties over a US government shutdown, and cautious Federal Reserve policies have all heightened risk aversion. Coinglass data highlights how high open interest and liquidation ratios signal ongoing market pressure, with long positions dominating losses.

Multiple technical support levels have been consecutively broken, with analysts warning of further downside risks. Market analysts point out a technical breakdown, with the critical support zone between $80,000 and $82,000 now under pressure. If buying interest fails to materialize, prices could further decline to between $74,000 and $78,000. Other analysts suggest that if Bitcoin cannot hold above $80,000, the next key support level is the low from April 2025, around $75,000, which occurred earlier that year amid tariff-related market turbulence. Some bearish analysts even state that if selling pressure intensifies, prices could fall to $70,000 or lower.

According to data, ETF outflows in late January exceeded $1.1 billion, combined with $880 million in high-profile options expirations, which intensified the bearish momentum. Whales and institutions appear to be selling holdings, reflecting a historical cycle pattern where low-liquidity weekends tend to increase volatility.