Bitcoin fell to a nine-month low near $81,000 on Friday, extending a steep pullback from its October peak around $126,000.
Bitcoin hit $81,058 on Coinbase in early trading, according to TradingView.
Liquidations spike as bitcoin revisits April lows
CoinGlass data showed roughly 270,000 traders were liquidated over the past 24 hours.
Total liquidations reached $1.68 billion, with about 93% coming from leveraged long positions, largely in bitcoin and Ether.
The wider bitcoin market selloff also erased about $200 billion from the total crypto market capitalization over the same period.
Geopolitical tensions and tariff threats weigh on risk
The move came as the US dispatched another warship to the Middle East amid rising tensions with Iran.
US President Donald Trump said he planned to speak with Tehran.
Trump also declared a national emergency and signed an executive order on Thursday that would impose tariffs on goods from countries that sell or provide oil to Cuba.
Tech earnings add to the selloff
Jeff Mei, chief operations officer at BTSE, said disappointing tech revenue reports contributed to the move.
Mei told Cointelegraph:
“Last night’s market dip had a clear correlation to Microsoft’s earnings flop.”
Microsoft shares fell 10% on Thursday, the sharpest daily decline since March 2020, after the company reported record spending and slowing cloud sales growth.
Mei added that some investors were de-risking amid worries of a broader pullback in AI-related tech stocks.
Bitcoin’s latest dip pushed it into a closely watched monthly support area.
