Bitcoin reclaims $61K after $1.6B liquidation rout!

Bitcoin clawed back above $61,000 in Asian trading Saturday after plunging as low as $59,227 overnight, recovering more than $1,500 off the low following a brutal leverage washout that liquidated $1.60 billion in positions across roughly 308,000 traders in 24 hours. Longs bore the brunt at $1.21 billion, with BTC alone seeing $534 million wiped and ETH $423 million.

Why it matters

The trigger was macro, not crypto-native. Friday's nonfarm payrolls print came in solid, but markets read it as higher-for-longer fuel rather than a growth signal. Fed swaps now fully price a rate hike by end-2026 — a sharp reversal from the cuts expected under newly confirmed chair Kevin Warsh. Two-year Treasury yields jumped 12 basis points to 4.16%, the dollar surged, and risk assets sold off hard. The Nasdaq 100 dropped roughly 5%, its steepest single-day fall since April 2025, while a chipmaker gauge tumbled 10%. Bitcoin was already under pressure heading into the print: a record ETF outflow streak and Strategy's first BTC sale since 2022 had been draining buy-side support all week.

Market impact

The $60,000 level was pierced but quickly reclaimed — the key question now is whether bulls can defend it on a retest. A clean break lower would push BTC back into February drawdown territory. Altcoins remain deep in the red: ETH is down 21.6% on the week to around $1,575, SOL off 23.7% to $63, and XRP, DOGE and BNB all between 13% and 20% lower. Zcash is the outlier, down 44% after a disclosed bug in its Orchard privacy pool triggered an additional $115 million in liquidations.