Bitcoin loses $19k as $100M is liquidated in less than 4 hours

Following a bullish start to Tuesday trading, where Ethereum gained 6% on Bitcoin as it marched back towards $2,000, the market turned to see Bitcoin lose $19k and Ethereum drop below $1,500.

btc price
BTCUSD TradingView on CryptoSlate

The sharp decline in Tuesday evening trading saw over $100 million in Bitcoin liquidations in the space of four hours, with total liquidations across the entire market totaling $222 million.

Throughout the early part of Tuesday, trading Bitcoin was moving sideways, barely breaking 1% up on the day as Ethereum soared in celebration of a successful Bellatrix hard fork.

However, around 6 p.m. BST, the price fell dramatically, and the Coinglass chart below showcases the spike in long liquidations in the following four hours.

Bitcoin liquidations
Total BTC Liquidations (Source: Coinglass)

Further information from Coinglass states that over 100 thousand traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours, with total daily liquidations reaching $407.18 million. The single most significant liquidation was valued at $2.57 million on Okex.

liquidations
Total Liquidations (Source: Coinglass)

At the time of writing, the Bitcoin bulls are fighting hard to defend the $19k support, which has been tested three times in the past six months. Bitcoin recovered within a few days on each of these occasions.

bitcoin support
Source: BTCUSD on TradingView

Source: https://cryptoslate.com/bitcoin-loses-19k-as-100m-is-liquidated-in-less-than-4-hours/