In the past year alone, there have been 3 liquidation events exceeding US$1 billion! Bitcoin can aptly be called a "wealth destruction machine."

In the past year alone, there have been 3 liquidation events exceeding US$1 billion! Bitcoin can aptly be called a "wealth destruction machine." Massive liquidations in the Bitcoin market are turning from unexpected events into a daily phenomenon. On Saturday, Bitcoin fell to US$66,586 during Asian trading hours, the lowest since August; on Sunday it dropped further to US$62,022, a new low since July 14, before rebounding to about US$64,800. Since October 21, Bitcoin has fallen more than 20% cumulatively and is heading for a sixth consecutive weekly decline. (Sunday Bitcoin price action) As of 17:00 on Sunday, according to CoinGlass data, more than 310,000 people were liquidated in the past 24 hours, with total liquidation amounts of US$1.971 billion. The largest single liquidation occurred on the Binance exchange in ETHUSDT, worth US$16.173 million. (Cryptocurrency liquidation amounts over the past 24 hours) On Friday, Bitcoin's decline had already triggered about US$1.3 billion in long crypto position liquidations within 24 hours, with Bitcoin accounting for most of it. (Friday: Bitcoin price fell below US$70,000, losing the 200-day moving average) According to reports, since the US$6 billion Binance theft incident on October 29, institutional buyers have continued to retreat, with US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs seeing net outflows of nearly US$3 billion between October 30 and November 13. According to Coinglass data covering 28 futures exchanges, over the past year there have been 13 instances of single-day liquidations exceeding US$500 million, 3 of which exceeded US$1 billion. This means that, on average, less than once a month, the market experiences a violent swing sufficient to wipe out large amounts of leveraged positions. Industry views differ on whether liquidations are evidence of market fragility. Sygnum Bank Chief Investment Officer Fabian Dori said such chain reactions merely reflect the concentration of leverage in the market. But Paul Howard, senior director at trading firm Wincent, said such liquidations have become more frequent over the past 12 months compared with previous periods. He noted that many crypto investors pursue high-risk, high-reward trading styles and commonly hold leveraged positions, so external eventsincluding macro news that moves the marketcause more violent liquidations. Sixth consecutive weekly decline: macro headwinds and regulatory expectations Bitcoin is heading for a sixth consecutive weekly decline, with multiple factors converging at the same time. On one hand, high oil prices and sticky inflation reinforced expectations of further Federal Reserve rate hikes, weighing on overall valuations of risk assets. On the other hand, the market expects Democrats to retake both chambers of the US Congress next year, seen as a signal that the industry will face stricter regulatory scrutiny. The industry's own pressures also cannot be ignored. ETF outflows continue, a shift in risk appetite led by the AI boom has accelerated the decline in various tokens, and the fallout from the recent US$6 billion Binance theft is still playing out. Together, these factors form the backdrop for this round of declines. FxPro chief market analyst Alex Kuptsikevich pointed to the timing of liquidity. He noted that the use of derivatives "has become the norm even for investors with limited funds"; liquidity is relatively thin before the European trading session begins, and the lack of institutional money means market direction is harder to predict. He wrote: prices quickly hit stop-loss clusters, triggering cascading stampedes. The fight for speculative capital: Bitcoin versus AI Another explanation circulating in crypto circles is that Bitcoin is losing the battle for speculative capital. The selloff in AI stocks may be creating more attractive buying opportunities for investors than cryptocurrenciesthe exact opposite of the bullish logic popular a few months ago. At the time, some investors expected that once the AI trade cooled, speculative capital would rotate into Bitcoin; the reality now is that the decline in tech stocks has given dip buyers a stronger reason to choose AI stocks. Noelle Acheson, author of the "Crypto Is Macro Now" newsletter, described the shift in market structure after US spot Bitcoin ETFs launched in 2024 this way: when Bitcoin becomes a macro assetand with ETFs it arguably hasit must compete with all other macro assets for the crown of risk asset. Richard Galvin, executive chairman of crypto investment firm DACM, said AI company Anthropic's upcoming IPO may be siphoning funds from the crypto market. He said: price action looks very similar to what happened earlier this year around the SpaceX IPO pricing; it appears crypto remains a source of short-term funds, especially for retail investors. Not everyone reads it as a crash signal Some industry participants also caution against equating massive liquidations directly with market fragility. Sygnum Bank Chief Investment Officer Fabian Dori wrote: such chain reactions depend on how leverage is distributed in the market and do not constitute a verdict on the underlying asset itself. He noted that large liquidations have long been an inherent feature of crypto markets. Technical factors also played a role. Rich Rosenblum, co-founder of crypto market maker GSR, said this was a technical move: Bitcoin broke below its 200-day moving average of about US$73,000, triggering a large number of liquidations and new short positions. He believes Bitcoin may be approaching a technical bottom. This divergence itself is a key variable in current market judgment: under a trading structure dominated by derivatives, price swings will more frequently trigger forced liquidations, and whether the scale of liquidations reflects changes in market structure or deterioration in the asset's fundamentals will determine how investors view the next leg down. This article is reprinted from "Wallstreetcn," author: Bao Yilong; GMTEight editor: Yan Wencai.