Bitcoin collapses below $90,000 due to whale sell-off... 'Liquidation tsunami' in derivatives market

Source: BlockMedia Original Title: Bitcoin Falls Below $90,000 Amid Whale Sell-off…Derivatives Market Faces ‘Liquidation Tsunami’ Original Link: Bitcoin dropped back below $90,000 as a result of significant selling pressure over the weekend. Although it attempted a technical rebound in the early morning hours, recovering to the $91,000 range, the lack of market liquidity led to another sharp price decline and heightened volatility.

As of 8 a.m. on the 8th (KST), Bitcoin (BTC) was trading around $89,600, down about 1.5% from its recent short-term high. At one point earlier this morning, it surpassed $91,000, but then plummeted to the low $89,000s before making a modest recovery.

This sharp drop is seen as a continuation of the volatility triggered by a massive $1.39 billion sell-off that occurred the previous day. According to blockchain analysts, a total of 15,565 BTC was dumped on the market within the past hour, with the majority of these inflows coming from major exchanges and institutional traders.

At that time, the price plunged from about $89,700 to $87,700 in just a few minutes—a $2,000 drop—resulting in the liquidation of $171 million in long positions. As the price sharply rebounded, around $14 million in short positions were also closed out, leading to a simultaneous two-way liquidation ‘weak hand washout (washout)’ phase.

According to (Coinglass), total liquidations over the past 24 hours amounted to $424.67 million, with 132,628 traders forced to close their positions.

Market experts are calling this not just price volatility but a “designed liquidity squeeze.” In particular, whales are said to have intentionally triggered sharp price movements during the low-volume weekend, forcing the liquidation of leveraged positions to maximize their profits. In fact, immediately after the plunge, a significant wave of buying pushed prices back up, indicating that spot demand still exists.

However, the fact that the price fell below $90,000 again shows that the market remains unstable. Still, some in the market speculate that about $1 billion worth of short positions could be liquidated near $93,000, fueling hopes for a further rebound.

Market participants are now closely watching whether liquidity will recover during the week and if the derivatives market will stabilize. In the short term, as leveraged positions unwind and selling at the highs continues, Bitcoin is expected to search for direction around the $90,000 mark.