At the start of the week, Bitcoin came under strong pressure, falling by roughly $3,000 in less than two hours. At its low, the price dipped to around $64,300, before BTC managed to reclaim the $65,000 level. Even so, over the past 24 hours the leading cryptocurrency remains down nearly 4%. Over the weekend, Bitcoin had briefly climbed to around $68,600.
Ethereum, XRP, and other altcoins also posted sharp losses. Among the hardest hit were LayerZero (–11%) — the recently hyped interoperability protocol — pump.fun (–9%), and Solana (–7%).
The abrupt pullback in the crypto market was accompanied by massive forced liquidations. According to CoinGlass, more than 136,000 traders were liquidated over the past 24 hours, totaling around $458 million, with approximately 92% coming from long positions.
Against this backdrop, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index dropped to a reading of 5. Since the index was launched in 2018, it has fallen this low only three times: in August 2019, June 2022, and earlier this month.
From a technical perspective, Bitcoin is once again testing the lower boundary of the sideways range that formed after the February 6 crash, when the price fell toward the $60,000 area. The zone around $65,000 is now considered a key support level.
Analysts at Glassnode note that capitulation among newer BTC investors remains in focus. The 7-day EMA of realized losses for this cohort currently stands at around $500 million per day, down from more than $1.2 billion earlier this month. Selling pressure from so-called paper hands is easing, but remains a significant factor.
Exchange data also point to some cooling in immediate selling pressure. According to CryptoQuant, Bitcoin inflows to exchanges after the heavy sell-off in early February have declined from around 60,000 BTC per day to roughly 23,000 BTC (smoothed data).
At the same time, the structure of flows has shifted: the Exchange Whale Ratio has risen to 0.64, the highest level since 2015. This means that nearly two-thirds of the BTC flowing to exchanges each day come from the 10 largest deposits, indicating that large holders continue to dominate the supply side.
Risk-off sentiment triggered by renewed uncertainty around US trade tariffs is also visible across other markets at the start of the week. Futures on US equity indices are declining, led by the Nasdaq 100, while precious metals are posting solid gains.
For Bitcoin, the $65,000 level is becoming a key short-term benchmark. If support holds, the ongoing bottoming process could continue; if it breaks, the market could quickly revisit the February 6 lows — far sooner than many investors would like.
