Bitcoin tumbles under $39,000 triggering $115M liquidation in 1 hour Bitcoin tumbles under $39,000 triggering $115M liquidation in 1 hour
The crypto market appears shaken as Bitcoin and Ethereum prices tumbled to new local lows.
2 min read
Updated: Jan. 23, 2024 at 10:22 am UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
Bitcoin’s (BTC) dip below the $39,000 mark resulted in significant liquidations totaling approximately $115 million across the cryptocurrency market during the past hour.
Red market
In the last 24 hours, BTC experienced a 4% decline, trading at $38,915 as of press time, according to data from CryptoSlate. This downturn reduced its market capitalization by around $40 billion, settling at $767 billion.
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes suggested that Bitcoin’s current price trend could persist until the end of the month, influenced by the US Treasury’s quarterly refunding announcement.
Simultaneously, Ethereum (ETH) witnessed a 6% drop, reaching $2,230. The decline in ETH’s price can be attributed to substantial selling pressure from its Foundation and fund movements related to the distressed crypto entity Celsius.
Celsius transferred around 13,000 ETH (approximately $30.87 million) to Coinbase and 2,200 ETH (roughly $5.12 million) to FalconX, while the Ethereum Foundation sold $1.6 million of the digital asset.
Long traders stunned
Data from Coinglass reveals substantial losses for traders anticipating further market price increases. For context, long traders lost $115 million during the past hour alone.
When the time frame is extended to 24 hours, long traders’ losses amount to nearly $300 million, while those with bearish market positions incurred a more modest $38 million in losses during this reporting period.
Bitcoin traders bore the brunt of the downturn, losing more than $80 million, with more than 60% of these losses attributed to long positions. The most significant individual liquidation was a $5 million wager on BTC’s price increase on Bybit.
Similarly, Ethereum speculators faced total liquidations of around $70 million, with the majority of lossesโapproximately $60 millionโstemming from traders betting on ETH price increases.
Traders holding positions in other major digital currencies also experienced substantial losses, with Solana, XRP, Dogecoin, and Ordinal seeing liquidations of $16 million, $4 million, $5 million, and $6 million, respectively.
Examining exchanges, Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, saw traders collectively lose $98 million, while OKX reported liquidations totaling $71 million. Other crypto platforms, including ByBit and HTX, witnessed a combined loss of $63.52 million among their traders.
Mentioned in this article
Bitcoin 
Ethereum 
Solana 
ORDI 
Celsius Network 
Ethereum Foundation 
BitMEX 
Bybit 
OKX 
Binance 
Arthur Hayes Author 
Oluwapelumi Adejumo
Oluwapelumi values Bitcoin's potential. He imparts insights on a range of topics like DeFi, hacks, mining and culture, underlining transformative power.
Editor Editor 
Liam 'Akiba' Wright
Also known as "Akiba," Liam is a reporter, editor and podcast producer at CryptoSlate. He believes that decentralized technology has the potential to make widespread positive change.
Latest Bitcoin Stories
In this article
Bitcoin, a decentralized currency that defies the sway of central banks or administrators, transacts electronically, circumventing intermediaries via a peer-to-peer network.
Ethereum
$3,119.88
Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain platform that enables the creation of smart contracts and decentralized applications (DApps).
Solana
$142.342
Solana is a high-performance blockchain platform that utilizes a unique consensus algorithm called “Proof of History” to achieve fast transaction speeds and low fees.
ORDI
$42.6698
The total amount of bitcoins is 21 million, and one can be subdivided into 100 million satoshi (satoshi is sat, the smallest unit of bitcoin), and there are 2100 trillion satoshi in total.
Celsius Network
Celsius Network is a bankrupt cryptocurrency lending company that was founded in 2017 and headquartered in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Ethereum Foundation
Ethereum Foundation, a Swiss nonprofit organization, is a worldwide team of passionate developers.
BitMEX
HDR Global Trading Limited owns and operates BitMEX which is a trading platform that offers investors access to the global financial markets using only Bitcoin.
Bybit
Bybit is a cryptocurrency derivative trading platform established in March 2018 and registered in the BVI.
OKX
OKX is a world-leading digital asset exchange, providing advanced financial services to global traders by using blockchain technology.
Binance
Binance is a global cryptocurrency exchange that provides a platform for trading more than 100 cryptocurrencies.
Arthur Hayes, a prominent figure in the world of cryptocurrency, co-founded the cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX and served as its CEO until recent events shifted his career trajectory.