Bitcoin fell back toward $69,000 on Thursday, erasing gains since its November 2021 peak near $69,000 as selling pressure intensified across spot and derivatives markets.
Bitcoin hit as low as $69,040 on some venues, while Bitbo data showed it touching $69,031.
At the time of writing, bitcoin was down more than 8% on the day, about 30% over the past year, and roughly 45% below its October high.
Selloff deepens below $70,000
Glassnode said market structure has deteriorated, with onchain indicators pointing to forced selling, thin spot demand, and fading institutional support.
Chris Beamish and Antoine Colpaert wrote:
“Spot BTC volumes remain structurally weak, reflecting a demand vacuum where sell-side pressure isn’t being met by sustained absorption.”
Glassnode said bitcoin dropped below its “True Market Mean,” a cost-basis metric, framing the move as consistent with early bear-market transitions.
Onchain data also showed early accumulation between $70,000 and $80,000, with a dense cost-basis cluster around $66,900 to $70,600.
Analysts added that realized losses are elevated, averaging more than $1.2 billion per day.
Long liquidations accelerate
Derivatives markets amplified the decline, with bitcoin futures seeing the largest long-liquidation spike of the drawdown as price slipped into the low $70,000s.
More than $1 billion in crypto liquidations were reported over the past 24 hours, mostly from long positions.
Options markets also reflected higher downside demand, with short-dated implied volatility rising and downside skew steepening.
Institutional flows turn negative
Institutional appetite weakened as net flows across spot bitcoin ETFs, corporate treasuries, and government-linked holdings turned negative.
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw a second straight day of outflows totaling $545 million, according to ETF flows.
Strategy holds more than 713,000 BTC at an average cost just above $76,000, leaving the position underwater, per the Strategy bitcoin treasury tracker.
Glassnode said spot demand remains the key variable, warning that without sustained buyer return, rebounds may remain unstable.
