Bitcoin dropped below the $82,000 mark on Thursday, part of a wider digital-asset retreat that forced nearly $1 billion in leveraged positions to close. The world's largest cryptocurrency by market value touched an intraday low of $80,426.95 before paring losses to trade near $81,423.05, a decline of 2.9% over the prior 24 hours.
The pullback unfolded against a backdrop of rising energy costs and renewed geopolitical anxiety, both of which weighed on risk-sensitive assets across financial markets.
Liquidations hit long positions hardest
Data from CoinGlass showed total cryptocurrency liquidations of $974 million over the previous day. Long positions — bets that prices would rise — accounted for $896 million of that sum, while short liquidations totaled just $78 million. The imbalance indicates that traders positioned for further upside bore the brunt of forced closures as prices slid.
Ethereum led the liquidation tally at $311 million, followed by Bitcoin at $238 million. The cascade of margin calls added further downward pressure as leveraged participants were compelled to exit.
Crypto equities and altcoins follow bitcoin lower
The weakness spread to publicly traded companies with crypto exposure. Strategy (MSTR), Coinbase (COIN) and Block (XYZ) each lost more than 2% during Thursday's session. Circle (CRCL), the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, fell as much as 1.5%. Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR), an Ethereum treasury company, was among the hardest hit, with shares dropping more than 5% to levels last seen in mid-September.
Major digital tokens also declined. Solana fell 7.1% over 24 hours to $107.92, while Dogecoin dropped 6.4% to roughly $0.08. XRP and Ethereum each shed about 4.5%, with XRP near $1.36 and Ethereum around $2,440.
Government-linked bitcoin transfers draw attention
Bitcoin's slide coincided with notable on-chain movements tied to U.S. government seizures. Arkham data showed wallets linked to the government moved 12,267 Bitcoin, worth approximately $1.01 billion, from an address associated with the Bitfinex hack seizure to new, unlabeled addresses, according to CoinDesk. No exchange deposit appeared in the transaction, suggesting a wallet-to-wallet transfer rather than an immediate sale.
The move followed heavier exchange-bound activity a day earlier, when about 3,200 Bitcoin worth roughly $264 million, along with $119 million in USDT, moved to Coinbase Prime deposit addresses. Those funds were traced to wallets linked to the FTX/Alameda and Bitfinex seizures.
Oil rally adds to risk-off tone
The crypto selloff came as oil prices climbed again, intensifying concerns about inflation and broader market risk. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for November rose as much as 5.5% to around $93 a barrel before easing to roughly $91. Brent crude futures for December reached $105.65 before pulling back to about $104.43.
The energy rally followed an overnight attack on a tanker off the coast of Qatar, heightening worries about regional security and supply disruptions. Prices later retreated after President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post that there were no plans to attack Iran before the midterm elections. The comments appeared to calm some immediate fears of further military action, though oil remained elevated.
Meanwhile, prediction market Kalshi Crypto said its traders were forecasting Bitcoin could fall to $78,000 this month following the government-linked Bitcoin transfer.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
