Bitcoin Extends Slide Near $82,700 as Crypto Liquidations Hit $1.8 Billion
A stronger dollar and risk-off sentiment deepened declines across crypto and metals; $1.8B in liquidations, negative funding, and rising implied volatility marked bitcoin’s lowest level since November.
Bitcoin fell 2.7% to about $82,747 since midnight UTC, while ether slid 3.5% to $2,743, extending Thursday’s selloff. The dollar index rose 0.57% amid expectations Kevin Warsh could become the next Federal Reserve chair, as gold dropped below $5,000 (from $5,600 Wednesday) and silver fell to $96 (from $121). Crypto liquidations reached $1.8 billion in 24 hours, with open interest broadly lower; perpetual funding turned negative for BTC, ETH and XRP, and bitcoin’s 30‑day implied volatility (BVIV) increased to 47% from 40%. Options skew turned bearish, with puts pricier than calls; block flows featured BTC put spreads and an ETH put butterfly. Bitcoin dominance slipped to 58.73% as traders rotated to altcoins; the CoinDesk 20 is down 6.6% year-to-date versus a 2.28% decline for the CoinDesk 80. Notable moves: Canton’s CC rose 3.35% (only top‑100 gainer), privacy coins XMR, ZEC and DASH fell about 5%, and RIVER dropped 55% this week (‑25% in 24h) after an 884% rally earlier in January. A $47 million tokenized‑silver long was liquidated on HyperLiquid. Bitcoin touched its lowest since November and is on track for a sixth straight red monthly candle versus gold; the BTC‑gold ratio rebounded to ~16.3 from 15.5.
- Liquidations: Forced closing of leveraged positions when margin is insufficient, typically triggered by sharp adverse price moves.
- Perpetual funding rate: Recurring payments between longs and shorts on perpetual futures to keep prices aligned with spot; negative rates often indicate increased short demand.
- Implied volatility (BVIV): A forward-looking volatility measure derived from options prices; BVIV tracks bitcoin’s 30‑day implied volatility.