Crypto Market Suffers Sharp Weekend Pullback; Nearly 180,000 Traders Liquidated for Over $880 Million in 24 Hours

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The cryptocurrency market suffered a sharp pullback over the weekend of August 22–23, following a multi-day rally. Bitcoin fell 2.40% in 24 hours to $76,600, while <a href="https://xpertsstudio.com/crypto-skeptic-rashida-tlaib-holds-bitcoin-and-ethereum-etfs/” title=”Crypto Skeptic Rashida Tlaib Holds Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs”>Ethereum dropped 5.29%. Altcoins including Cardano (ADA), XRP, and Stellar (XLM) all plunged more than 12%. According to CoinGlass, 179,200 traders globally were liquidated within 24 hours, with total liquidations reaching $882 million—over 85% of which were long positions. The selloff came after a short-squeeze rally triggered by the U.S. Treasury’s expansion of long-term bond buybacks, which had propelled Bitcoin from $64,000 to above $78,000 in just three trading days. Analysts attribute the pullback to profit-taking and escalating Middle East geopolitical tensions. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Rezaei warned that any country participating in economic restrictions against Iran would be considered an enemy. Meanwhile, Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio cautioned about a U.S. fiscal inflection point, recommending investors allocate to gold and a small Bitcoin position.

Key Elements

After several consecutive days of aggressive upward momentum, the cryptocurrency market suffered a sharp pullback over the weekend of August 22–23. Bitcoin reversed course after touching highs above $78,000, while Ethereum and a broad swath of altcoins saw even steeper declines. The derivatives market once again witnessed large-scale liquidations, with nearly 180,000 investors globally getting wiped out within 24 hours, with total losses approaching $900 million. Market participants attributed the plunge to the combined pressure of concentrated profit-taking and escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

According to data from CoinGlass, as of press time, a total of 179,200 traders were liquidated globally over the past 24 hours, with total liquidation value reaching $882 million. Of this, long-position liquidations amounted to $753 million—accounting for more than 85% of the total—while short-position liquidations totaled just $129 million. The largest single liquidation occurred on Binance’s ETHUSDC trading pair, valued at $22.43 million.

On the price front, Bitcoin fell 2.40% over 24 hours to $76,600, while Ethereum dropped 5.29% to $2,383. Altcoin losses were even more pronounced: Cardano (ADA) plunged 14.05%, Stellar (XLM) fell 13.17%, XRP dropped 12.21%, and both Binance Coin (BNB) and Solana declined more than 5%.

Note: Data as of press time; prices and percentage changes

Prior to this plunge, Bitcoin had just experienced a remarkable short-squeeze rally. Starting August 19, Bitcoin surged from the $64,000 area to above $78,000 within just three trading days—a rebound of more than 21%—marking its highest level since May 27.

The core catalyst for this rally came from the U.S. Treasury. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on August 19 that the cap on long-term Treasury bond buybacks would be raised from $2 billion to at least $4 billion, aimed at alleviating liquidity pressure from persistently rising long-end yields. The move drove 30-year Treasury yields down from near two-decade highs, signaling improved liquidity conditions to risk assets. On the same day, U.S. President Trump met with crypto industry leaders, further bolstering market confidence.

BTC Markets analyst Rachael Lucas noted that the real driver of this rally was indeed the expansion of Treasury buybacks, but the long-term logic has not changed—Bitcoin’s characteristic high volatility remains as pronounced as ever.

HashKey Group senior researcher Sun Wei told Caijing magazine that this was not merely a news-driven move, but a carefully orchestrated short squeeze. He pointed out that months of range-bound trading had accumulated massive leveraged short positions, and when prices moved above $65,000, the crowding of shorts had become highly evident. The U.S. Treasury’s expanded buyback program, Trump’s pro-crypto policy signals, and new regulatory exemption measures from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) all converged simultaneously, directly triggering panic short-covering.

Derivatives market data corroborates this assessment. A report provided by Sinohope Research showed that on August 19 alone, short-position liquidations in the derivatives market exceeded $1.3 billion. This forced liquidation—which pushes prices higher and triggers further liquidations in a positive feedback loop—rapidly propelled Bitcoin above $70,000.

However, weekend geopolitical tensions interrupted the rally’s momentum.

According to CCTV News, on the 22nd local time, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Rezaei stated that any country participating in economic restrictions against Iran would be considered an enemy by Tehran. He said the economic war launched by the Trump administration is also a propaganda war, and that despite Iran having endured long-term U.S. sanctions, the country has learned how to circumvent them. He also warned that any U.S. action in the southern shipping lanes of the Strait of Hormuz would become a target for Iranian strikes.

Previously, due to stalled negotiations with Iran, Trump announced on the 19th that he would impose “devastating economic action” against Iran, threatening that any country providing support to Iran would face severe economic consequences. Bessent further warned on the 20th that the United States would implement unprecedented economic isolation measures against Iran.

On the Russia-Ukraine conflict front, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on the 22nd that Ukrainian armed forces had continued to attack Russia with missiles and drones over the past 40 days, but that this amounted to nothing more than an adventure that had not produced any substantive turning point. He said that in response, Russian forces had intensified strikes on Ukrainian enterprises, with retaliatory strikes becoming more destructive. On the same day, Russian forces conducted cluster strikes on the Kyiv region, destroying more than 40 trucks equipped with long-range drone launch systems; Ukrainian forces struck fuel storage tanks at the port of Yeysk in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai.

Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio once again issued warnings about U.S. fiscal risks. He noted that Bessent’s announcement to expand long-term Treasury buybacks, combined with persistently rising long-term Treasury yields and Japan’s reduction of U.S. Treasury exposure, may indicate that U.S. finances are approaching a critical inflection point. Dalio stated explicitly on social media on the 21st that U.S. government finances have reached a turning point, warning that without immediate action, debt will continue to balloon until it can no longer be resolved without triggering a major economic shock. He recommended that investors reduce allocations to debt instruments such as bonds, while allocating 10% to 15% of portfolios to gold and holding a small amount of Bitcoin.

On Kalshi, the globally renowned prediction market platform, both retail speculators and professional institutional traders are broadly betting that Bitcoin will close 2026 near current levels. The average result of related contracts on the platform shows market expectations for a year-end Bitcoin price of approximately $75,000.

Standard Chartered’s head of digital assets research, Geoff Kendrick, was more optimistic, predicting that Bitcoin could rise to $100,000 by the end of 2026. He emphasized that the U.S. Treasury’s liquidity injection is “Bitcoin’s favorite kind of news.” In his view, Bitcoin’s fixed supply makes it a natural beneficiary of monetary easing, and the liquidity tide is only just beginning to rise.

However, Sun Wei took a relatively cautious stance on the short-term outlook. He believes the resistance zone between $75,000 and $80,000 will be the key test for this rebound, and current evidence is insufficient to confirm a trend reversal. Trading volume during this rally did not expand significantly, and with upward momentum and positive catalysts gradually weakening, a second pullback cannot be ruled out. On the positive side, even if a second decline occurs, the bottom will be higher than before.

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Source: finance.biggo.com