Crypto Market Volatility Triggers $190M in Liquidations

Bitcoin dropped for a third day after the release of an abysmal U.S. payrolls report.

Bitcoin (BTC) dipped 1.5% to $69,690, while Ethereum (ETH) fell 1% to $2,520. Solana (SOL) dropped by 2%, and Polkadot (DOT) was flat. The global crypto market cap slipped by 2.4% to $2.44 trillion over the last 24 hours.

Leveraged long positions took a substantial hit, indicating losses for those betting on price increases. Over the past 24 hours, liquidations reached $266 million, with $190 million of that total comprising long positions, per data from CoinGlass. More than 81,000 traders were liquidated during this period.

On Friday, macroeconomic data came in weaker than anticipated, as the U.S. added only 12,000 jobs in October, far below the Dow Jones estimate of 100,000, marking the slowest job growth since December 2020. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%, aligning with expectations.

Inflows into spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are slowing down after more than $3 billion flowed into the funds over the past two weeks. Farside Investors reported net inflows of $32 million into these funds on Thursday.

Leena ElDeeb, a research analyst at 21Shares, weighed in on the potential impact of the upcoming Federal Reserve rate decision, noting Bitcoin's sensitivity to inflation metrics.

"There’s a 91% chance that the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points,” ElDeeb said. “Historically, a reduction in rates tends to have a favorable impact on Bitcoin by lowering borrowing costs.”

Meanwhile, U.S. stocks kicked off November with gains.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.7%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite gained 0.5% and 0.8%, respectively, driven by a strong showing from Amazon and other major tech stocks.