Bitcoin drops below $76K, wiping out $100M in long positions

Bitcoin slid below $76,000, triggering a wave of forced selling that wiped out $100 million in long positions across crypto derivatives platforms.

The sell-off caught bullish traders flat-footed, with cascading liquidations amplifying downward pressure on an already fragile market.

The liquidation cascade

When leveraged long positions get liquidated, exchanges automatically sell the underlying asset to cover the borrowed funds. That forced selling creates additional downward pressure, which triggers more liquidations, which creates more selling.

According to CoinGlass data, the broader pattern around this price level has been brutal for leveraged bulls. During a similar stretch of volatility in August, Bitcoin’s drop from roughly $79,500 to around $77,000 generated approximately $547 million in liquidations. In one particularly violent 24-hour window, total liquidations across all crypto platforms exceeded $1.2 billion.

Long positions bore the brunt of the damage in that session, accounting for about $659 million in forced closures compared to just $148 million on the short side. That’s a ratio of more than four to one.

Individual blowups on platforms like Hyperliquid were especially dramatic, with single long liquidations ranging from $23 million to $48 million.

A familiar pattern in 2026

This isn’t the first time the $75K-$76K zone has served as a trapdoor for leveraged longs. Back in May, Bitcoin’s slide below $75,000 produced roughly $923 million in total liquidations. Long positions accounted for approximately $834 million of that figure, meaning over 90% of the pain fell on bulls.

Bitcoin had rallied sharply to around $79,500 in August from lows near $64,000. That recovery was fueled in part by aggressive short squeezes that liquidated between $2.7 billion and $3 billion in short positions over just one to two days.

What’s driving the volatility

Macro factors have played a significant role in Bitcoin’s erratic behavior throughout 2026, with Treasury bond buybacks and shifting regulatory signals both contributing to the uncertainty.

Platforms like CoinGlass have become essential tools for tracking these liquidation events in real time, and understanding where leverage is concentrated can offer clues about where the next cascade might occur.

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