Market Meltdown: SOL, DOGE Lead Losses in $770M Crypto Liquidation
Bitcoin Tumbles Below $99K, Triggers Massive Liquidation Wave
Bloody Monday: Crypto Market Cap Sinks 8.5% Amid Mass Liquidations
Contrarian Opportunity? $770M Crypto Liquidations Shake Markets
Bullish bets on rising cryptocurrency prices took a massive hit, with traders losing $770 million in the past 24 hours as bitcoin fell below $99,000. Major tokens like Solana’s SOL and Dogecoin (DOGE) plummeted over 10%, while Ether (ETH), BNB, XRP, and Cardano’s ADA recorded losses of up to 9%. The total crypto market capitalization dropped by 8.5% by Monday afternoon in Asia.
The carnage wasn’t limited to top coins. Lesser-known tokens like memecoin Pepe (PEPE), Aptos (APT), Gate.io’s GATE, and Virtuals (VIRTUALS) saw declines as steep as 18%.
Jupiter’s JUP was a rare exception, gaining 3.5% following a decision to repurchase tokens using trading fee revenues—a move potentially worth hundreds of millions in net buying annually.
Bitcoin’s slide below $99,000 early Monday came as traders booked profits ahead of the first U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting of the year. This mirrored a downturn in U.S. stock futures, which were impacted by revelations about China-based AI player DeepSeek, challenging the cost-effectiveness narrative promoted by OpenAI.
Futures markets reflected the turmoil, with BTC futures leading losses at $238 million, primarily during early European and Asian trading hours. SOL and DOGE futures saw combined losses of $50 million, altcoins lost $138 million, and ETH futures shed $84 million. The largest single liquidation occurred on HTX, involving a tether-margined BTC trade valued at $98.4 million.
Liquidations happen when traders lack sufficient funds to maintain leveraged positions. Such high volatility events often signal market corrections, with areas of heavy liquidations potentially serving as price support or resistance zones. While bearish traders may see continued declines as validation, contrarian traders could interpret Monday’s sell-off as a buying opportunity, anticipating a rebound once the liquidation momentum subsides.
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