Bitcoin drops below $75,000 as crypto liquidations near $1 billion

Bitcoin fell below $75,000 for the first time since mid-April on May 23, triggering a broad selloff across the cryptocurrency market and forcing the liquidation of nearly $1 billion in leveraged positions. The decline, which pushed Bitcoin as low as $74,255 on some exchanges, marked the ninth consecutive trading day of losses and erased gains that had briefly lifted the asset above $80,000 earlier in the month.

The drop below the psychologically important $75,000 level set off a cascade of forced closures in derivatives markets. Data from multiple tracking services showed that more than $940 million in futures positions were liquidated within 24 hours, with long bets accounting for roughly $870 million of that total. Over 160,000 individual traders saw their positions closed as prices moved through key support levels. Bitcoin-linked contracts suffered the heaviest losses at about $378 million, while Ethereum traders lost approximately $255 million.

Ethereum fell about 5% to trade near $2,065, and other major cryptocurrencies including Solana, Dogecoin, Cardano, and XRP also recorded significant losses. SUI dropped nearly 18% as leveraged positions unwound rapidly. The selling...