Bitcoin BTC fell to its lowest level since September 2024 on Thursday night, as repeated failures to hold critical support levels have eroded market confidence, according to analysts.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency dropped to $60,000 at 7:20 p.m. ET, marking a roughly 17% drop over the past 24 hours. Bitcoin later staged a partial recovery to around $64,100, reflecting heightened volatility, according to The Block’s bitcoin price page. Ethereum fell to as low as $1,750, and is trading at around $1,899 at the time of writing.
The sharp price drop resulted in $817 million in liquidations across long and short positions over the past four hours, according to Coinglass data using available figures. In the past 24 hours, total liquidations reached $2.67 billion, with $2.31 billion coming from long positions.
CMC’s crypto fear and greed index currently points to 5 in “extreme fear” — its lowest reading since the index launched in June 2023.
“Bitcoin’s sharp drop looks like a perfect storm: forced liquidations from over-leveraged longs, ETF/institutional outflows, and a broader risk-off macro backdrop,” said Vincent Liu, CIO at Kronos Research. This is a classic leverage unwind with violent, fast, and sentiment-driven selling.
Liu pointed out that bitcoin’s capitulation metric just printed its second-largest spike in two years, which indicates a significant surge in forced selling.
Falling knives
“Sentiment is firmly risk-off,” said Rachael Lucas, crypto analyst at BTC Markets. “Traders are no longer trying to catch falling knives and are instead prioritizing capital preservation. You can see that in how rallies are being sold into and how volume drops once liquidation flows subside.”
The BTC Markets analyst said repeated failures to hold the support levels have shifted trader behavior from buying the dip to waiting for confirmation, which reinforces the downward momentum.
Institutional investors, who typically position their capital on long-term bets compared to retail traders, are also seen moving out of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds — which saw more than $800 million in outflows across Tuesday and Wednesday.
“I don’t think long term conviction has disappeared, but short term positioning has clearly reset,” Lucas said. “Historically, these phases tend to shake out weaker hands while longer term holders remain relatively intact. Conviction isn’t gone, but it’s being tested.”
Liu of Kronos said bitcoin needs to maintain the critical support range of $58,000 to $60,000 for a potential recovery, after the market stabilizes around fundamentals.
“A rebound is possible starting from stabilizing price action and positive news catalysts, but it will take time to confirm once the dust settles,” Liu added.
© 2026 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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