$440 Million Liquidation in Crypto Post-Fed: Fear Dominates Bitcoin and Altcoins
As a defensive stance prevails in the cryptocurrency market following the U.S. Federal Reserve’s (Fed) interest rate decision, analysts note that investor confidence is remarkably weak.
The cryptocurrency market faced selling pressure after the Fed signaled that interest rates could remain higher for longer. Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, fell more than 1% in the last 24 hours, dropping to the $63,900 levels. This wave of decline also affected other major assets such as Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and BNB, dragging down overall market sentiment.
Marex analysts describe current market positioning as “defensive and weak.” According to analysts, the fear index among investors has plunged deep into extreme fear territory. Experts, noting that Bitcoin is approximately 48% away from its peak last October, emphasize that conviction in the market is quite low. While this situation offers a contrarian investment opportunity for patient investors, the general trend appears to be risk-averse.
Liquidation Wave in Futures and Open Interest
Over $440 million worth of futures positions were liquidated on exchanges within the last 24 hours. The fact that the vast majority of these liquidations were “long” positions expecting a rise indicates that investors were anticipating a recovery rally after the Fed decision but were proven wrong. Bitcoin’s open interest also fell from 742,000 BTC to 730,000 BTC, proving that risk appetite in the market has diminished.
In the options market, the increased demand for put options expiring on June 21 shows that investors are trying to hedge themselves against potential declines heading into the weekend. On the other hand, while some projects like Hyperliquid (HYPE) have achieved individual successes, the stagnation in the general ecosystem and the slowdown on the developer side continue to increase pressure on the market. Especially on the XRP (XRP) side, despite the high open interest, negative funding rates signal that bears are dominant in the market.