Altcoins Trigger Market Meltdown: $751M Liquidated as Bitcoin Plunges to July Lows

Crypto carnage strikes again—altcoins lead the charge off a cliff as Bitcoin gets dragged down to its lowest level since July. The bloodbath wiped out $751 million in leveraged positions in just 24 hours, leaving traders scrambling and bagholders in denial.

### The Domino Effect

When altcoins sneeze, Bitcoin catches a cold. This time, the entire market got pneumonia. No safe havens, no mercy—just a good old-fashioned liquidation party where everyone’s invited (but nobody wants to RSVP).

### Wall Street’s Tiny Violin Plays On

Meanwhile, traditional finance bros are sipping lattes and muttering 'told you so'—because nothing makes them happier than watching crypto traders learn the hard way that leverage works both directions. Cue the 'risk management' lectures.

Bottom line? The market’s flushing weak hands. Again. Whether this is a buying opportunity or the start of something uglier depends on how much hopium you’ve got left in the tank.

The correction that followed today was exacerbated by over-leveraged positioning in perpetual contracts.

According to liquidation data, more than $705 million in long positions were wiped out across major exchanges in the past 24 hours, with Binance and Bybit accounting for over 67% of the total.

These liquidations coincided with Bitcoin’s slide below $115,000, accelerating downside momentum and pushing the price to levels not seen since the July 10 rally. Market data also shows that more than $12 million in BTC-specific liquidations occurred in the past hour alone, further confirming cascading leverage unwinds.

Despite the sell-off, Bitcoin’s price is still up over 8% since the start of July. Should BTC break below the $113,500-$114,000 support region, there’s a risk of a revisit to early July consolidation zones NEAR $110,000. On-chain metrics, including declining active addresses and dropping exchange outflows, have also supported a short-term bearish outlook, according to data from Glassnode.

The broader altcoin market mirrored Bitcoin’s losses. ethereum dropped 6.4% to $3,611, while Solana and XRP fell over 7% each in the same 24-hour window. Market-wide long liquidations amounted to over $680 million, accounting for more than 93% of total liquidations, illustrating an overwhelmingly long-heavy derivatives landscape prior to the correction. This uneven leverage skew likely contributed to the sharp cascade, as high beta assets amplified losses amid falling BTC prices.

However, it is also possible that bitcoin followed altcoins for once, with overleveraged alts retracing after July’s ‘alt season’ rally.

Bitcoin’s drop to $114,000 caused a drop in the fear and greed index, with the metric falling to ‘neutral’ after a period of ‘greed’.

Though the recent decline has rattled short-term sentiment, BTC’s price remains well above its June consolidation range near $100,000 and its 4-month low of $74,000, reflecting a longer-term bullish structure despite the current turbulence.