Bitcoin Crashes Below $77,000 as $1.55 Billion in Liquidations Rip Through Crypto

Bitcoin has fallen through another round number, and this time the damage was not just in the price chart. Late on Thursday, October 29, Bitcoin dropped below $77,000 for the first time in more than a month, closing out a session in which leveraged traders lost more than $1.5 billion in a single day. The trigger was not a single headline. It was a pile-up: a record-sized security incident at the world's largest exchange, a market already nervous after a divided Federal Reserve decision, and a derivatives market that was still positioned for higher prices.

The Block reported that Bitcoin fell 4.5 percent over 24 hours to $76,664 as of 10:00 p.m. ET on Thursday. Ethereum dropped 5.2 percent to $2,190 in the same window, while BNB, the token at the heart of the Binance ecosystem, slid 7.1 percent to $698.65 and XRP fell 7 percent to $1.21. By the Asian morning session on Friday, Dow Jones Newswires via Morningstar had Bitcoin trading 2.9 percent lower at $76,573, described as its lowest level in over a month, with Ethereum down more than 3 percent at $2,186. CoinDesk's Friday-morning update put Bitcoin back near $77,400 after briefly dropping toward $76,000 a couple of hours earlier. The exact prints differ because they are snapshots taken hours apart in a fast market, but the direction in every snapshot is the same: down, hard, and across the whole board.

The liquidation numbers explain why the move felt so violent. CoinGlass data cited by The Block put total crypto liquidations at $1.55 billion over 24 hours, hitting 246,482 traders. Of that total, $1.34 billion was long positions — traders betting prices would rise. The largest single liquidation observed was an $11.09 million Bitcoin long on Binance itself. FXStreet's later update, using a slightly different 24-hour window, put the total at $1.51 billion with $1.30 billion in longs, and had Bitcoin trading around $76,676. CoinDesk, again on its own window, reported total liquidations of $1.5 billion, with Bitcoin accounting for $468 million and Ether for $358 million. Different windows, same story: this was a long liquidation event, not an orderly sell-off. When leveraged longs are forced to sell into a falling market, each sale pushes the price lower and triggers the next sale. That feedback loop is what turns a bad day into a $1.5 billion day.

Why were so many traders caught on the wrong side? Because the tape had looked survivable only a day earlier. United States spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds had just logged a third straight day of inflows, taking in $137 million on Wednesday, October 28, according to Farside Investors data reported by CoinDesk. The three-day inflow total reached $423.7 million. Inflows are often read as institutional demand, and they gave dip-buyers a reason to stay long. Then the Binance news broke, and the reason to stay long evaporated in hours. An ETF inflow streak can cushion a market; it cannot hold it up when the largest exchange in the world suspends deposits and withdrawals while it investigates what Binance itself describes as roughly $6.3 billion in total impact, with around $3 billion frozen so far with the help of partners including Tether and Circle. The full incident story — the compromised DevOps laptop, the absence of evidence of a wallet private-key leak, and the pledge to cover user losses — is covered in the related blog linked below, and this blog does not repeat it. What matters here is the market consequence: trust in the plumbing of the market took a hit at the exact moment leverage was high.

The technical picture now matters more than usual, because traders will trade the levels. FXStreet flagged Bitcoin holding just above its 200-day exponential moving average at $76,457, while sitting below its 50-day average at $80,556 — a bearish near-term bias with a nearby floor. If $76,457 fails, the next question traders will ask is the one FXStreet posed directly: can Bitcoin extend its correction below $75,000? If it holds, the same level becomes the line dip-buyers point to as proof the washout cleared the weak hands. Neither outcome is guaranteed by a moving average. Moving averages describe where price has been, not where it must go. But in a liquidation-driven market, levels become self-fulfilling for a while, because so many stop orders and liquidation engines are set around them.

There is also a breadth warning hiding inside the crash. This was not a Bitcoin-only event. Ethereum fell further in percentage terms than Bitcoin in most snapshots, BNB fell more than 7 percent, and altcoins broadly took the brunt of the sell-off earlier in the week as well. When everything falls together, it is a sign that the selling is about risk appetite and forced deleveraging, not about any single coin's fundamentals. The one partial exception in the wider tape, noted in earlier coverage, was TRON standing alone in positive territory in one delayed snapshot — a reminder that crypto markets rarely move in perfect lockstep, but also a reminder that a single green coin does not make a recovery.

What should readers watch next? Four things, in order. First, whether Binance reopens deposits and withdrawals, and whether the frozen total rises above $3 billion — both are concrete, checkable developments, unlike speculation about attribution. Second, whether the $76,457 area around the 200-day average holds on a daily close, or whether Bitcoin trades and stays below $75,000. Third, whether ETF flows flip: three days of inflows preceded this crash, and the next flow prints will show whether institutional buyers treated the crash as a buying opportunity or a reason to step back. Fourth, whether liquidations stay elevated or collapse back toward normal levels — a quiet derivatives market after a $1.5 billion flush is usually what a bottom looks like, while a second day of billion-dollar liquidations would say the deleveraging is not finished.

The honest summary is this: October 29 was the day crypto's leverage met crypto's biggest-ever exchange incident, and leverage lost. Prices can recover from that kind of day, and they often do once forced selling exhausts itself. But a recovery built on fresh leverage, before the Binance withdrawals reopen and before the frozen-asset picture is final, would be fragile. The market just got a very expensive lesson in position sizing. The traders who remember it will be the ones still standing for the next move, whichever direction it goes.

FAQ:
Why did Bitcoin fall below $77,000? A combination of the Binance security incident, an already risk-off market after a divided Fed hold, and heavy leveraged long positioning that was forced to sell as prices fell.
How much was liquidated? CoinGlass data cited by The Block put 24-hour liquidations at $1.55 billion across 246,482 traders, including $1.34 billion in longs. Later snapshots on different windows put the total at $1.50–$1.51 billion.
What was the largest single liquidation? An $11.09 million Bitcoin long on Binance, according to The Block's report of CoinGlass data.
Did ETF inflows stop the fall? No. US spot Bitcoin ETFs took in $137 million on October 28, a third straight inflow day, but the Binance news overwhelmed that support on October 29.
What price levels matter now? FXStreet flagged the 200-day exponential moving average near $76,457 as nearby support and the 50-day average near $80,556 as overhead resistance, with $75,000 as the next downside question.
Is this the same story as the Binance laptop findings blog? No. That blog covers how the incident happened. This blog covers what the incident did to prices and leveraged traders.
What would signal the selling is over? Binance reopening withdrawals, the frozen total stabilising, ETF flows staying positive, and daily liquidations falling back to normal levels.

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