Bitcoin’s $115K Plunge: The 4 Brutal Reasons Behind Today’s Bloodbath
Crypto winter just got an icy blast—Bitcoin cratered $115K in hours. Here’s what ripped the floor out.
1. Leverage Liquidation Avalanche
Overcollateralized longs got steamrolled—traders ignored the oldest rule in crypto: ‘Don’t fight the Fed.’
2. Whale Dump Roulette
A single OTC desk moved 8K BTC. Guess someone needed a new yacht before Q3 earnings.
3. Regulatory Déjà Vu
SEC Chair’s ‘unregistered securities’ tweet sparked PTSD from 2023’s crackdown. Algos panicked first, humans followed.
4. Macro Mood Swing
10-year Treasury yields spiked. Suddenly, ‘digital gold’ looked more like digital fool’s gold.
Silver lining? Every crash is a fire sale—if you’ve got the stomach. Just ask the ‘buy the dip’ crowd now quietly averaging down.
Post-rally exhaustion and profit-taking
Bitcoin ran hot for weeks, notching fresh all-time highs almost daily just over a week ago. But that momentum has cooled. Investors are locking in gains, whales are rotating funds, and large holders are rebalancing their positions, all contributing to the ongoing drop in price.
This shift opened the floodgates for liquidations. In the last 24 hours alone, nearly $586 million in long positions were wiped out across the board, according to CoinGlass. Bitcoin led the flush with around $150 million as it dropped toward $115K.
When leverage unwinds like this, losses compound fast. Forced selling often drags prices lower, rattles confidence, and turns a normal pullback into something sharper.
Outflows from Bitcoin ETFs
Despite closing their latest session in the green, bitcoin ETFs have had a rough week overall. Over just three days, outflows hit $285 million across multiple issuers, snapping the 12-day inflow streak that had fueled momentum earlier this month.
Institutional investors also appear to be cashing out after BTC’s recent highs, and the lack of new inflows is hurting short-term price momentum.
Ethereum is stealing the spotlight
After surging over 50% this month, ethereum (ETH) has taken over market attention. With record inflows in ETFs tracking the assets and renewed interest across institutional investors, Bitcoin’s dominance is slipping.
Capital rotation is now driving toward ETH and a handful of alts, adding weight to Bitcoin’s decline. The shift isn’t just in flows, and is showing up in sentiment too. Discussions on X, Telegram, and Reddit are increasingly focused on alts, even after Bitcoin’s climb to $123,000, suggesting fading retail interest.
Macro jitters
Uncertainty around U.S. trade policy is also weighing on Bitcoin. With a key tariff deadline looming on August 1 and talks with major partners like the EU, Brazil, and Canada still unresolved, investors are getting defensive.
Stocks are showing signs of caution, and that mood is bleeding into crypto. With the Fed meeting just days away, traders are trimming risk, and Bitcoin is feeling the pressure.
Is momentum gone for good?
Not necessarily. Analysts believe BTC is still in a strong position despite the drop today, and the current price action looks like a necessary breather before it resumes its uptrend. According to Rekt Capital, the market leader is still early in its current price discovery uptrend, suggesting there may be more upside before any major correction kicks in.
#BTC
It's only Week 3 in Price Discovery Uptrend 2
History suggests Bitcoin should be able to rally for another few weeks before a potential Price Discovery Correction 2$BTC #Crypto #Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/8O4Evi9PKT
So far, BTC has successfully retested key support levels on both the daily and weekly charts, including the lower high it recently broke past. As long as it holds above the $119K level on the weekly close, Rekt says a breakout from the current bull flag remains in play.
