Bitcoin (BTC USD) long liquidations surged as the price extended its bearish momentum on Wednesday, after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech.
The market still faced downside despite a confirmed rate cut, and the subsequent sell pressure triggered a massive liquidation event.
According to Coinglass data, Bitcoin long liquidations surged above $307 million on Wednesday. This marked yet another leverage shakedown.
Many traders anticipated a bullish move, especially with almost absolute certainty that the FED was going to cut rates again.
Analysts previously predicted that there would be at least 3 rate cuts before the end of the year.
However, Powell’s speech highlighted risks from the recent government shutdown, sustained inflation and the impact of tariffs.
While these observations may have suppressed investor sentiment, recent observations highlighted weak demand from whales.
Moreover, increased appetite for leveraged longs and bullish expectations created yet another liquidation scenario.
Negative Bitcoin ETF Flows Contributed to Bearish Momentum
Bitcoin ETFs contributed to the downward momentum. They registered roughly $470 million worth of net outflows on Wednesday, thus contributing to the bearish momentum.
Speaking of bearish momentum, Bitcoin (BTC USD) price slid by more than 7% from its weekly high of $116,381 to its low of $107,948 on Thursday morning.
The bearish momentum also pushed below BTC’s 2-week ascending support. However, it also recovered and pushed back above its opening price for the day, which meant that the support structure remained intact.
The bearish Bitcoin (BTC USD) price momentum was accompanied by over $77 million worth of net spot flows. Large order-book data revealed that whales on top exchanges like Binance and Coinbase contributed a significant share of the bearish momentum.
Another demand wave followed quickly after Wednesday’s dip, allowing the price to recover back above $111,000 at the time of observation.
Large order book stats also revealed that whales were positioning themselves for the bounce back.
For example, Binance whales executed $1.2 billion worth of long positions in the derivatives segment while OKX whales had $213 million in net longs.
Binance and Coinbase spot flows were relatively weak, but OKX whales acquired over $17 million worth of spot BTC.
What’s Next for Bitcoin (BTC USd) Price Action in November?
Many key industry figures maintained a bullish predisposition in October. Some still anticipate explosive price action in the coming months.
Among them includes Eric Trump who recently acknowledged that the global regulatory landscape has been shifting in favor of crypto.
Market data also showed that Bitcoin (BTC USD) balances on exchanges continued declining and were at their lowest levels in the last 12 months.
The declining balances on exchanges confirmed the market still held on to long-term bullish expectations. However, October had its fair share of challenges, especially at the macro scale.
It was thus not surprising that Bitcoin tanked despite the FED rate cut announcement. Powell’s post-rate-cut announcement speech may have added to the uncertainty.
However, the markets have been fixated on President Trump’s meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping.
The markets have been waiting for official confirmations for the end of the tariff war between China and the U.S. Bitcoin (BTC USD) and other risk-on assets might be off to a soft landing in November.
Recent reports revealed that Trump and Xi Jinping had a successful meeting.
Improving public relations between China and the U.S may act as the backdrop for improved macroeconomic conditions.
This may boost market sentiment and set the pace for a smoother market performance in the next 4 weeks.