After a wave of profit-taking and long positions being liquidated, Bitcoin prices are once again facing downward pressure. At the same time, record levels of ETF capital outflows and continued selling have put additional upward pressure on the token. As a result, Bitcoin prices have now fallen back to $82,542, with intraday lows reaching as low as $80,393. This selling activity has once again made the $80,700 support level a focal point for the market. The key question now is whether this is just a short-term "washout" or the beginning of a deeper pullback to around $75,000.
Bitcoin encounters large-scale profit-taking after rising
Bitcoin recently fell from $87,000 to $80,000, allowing holders to lock in profits, followed by exceptionally strong selling pressure. Investors realized a profit of about $1.03 billion, which is the second-highest profit-taking volume since 2026, only slightly lower than the peak of about $1.04 billion that year.
Santiment Data shows that during Bitcoin's recent breakthrough above $85,000, approximately 86% of the Bitcoin that flowed into exchanges came from short-term holders, who transferred their tokens while in a profitable position. This indicates that the recent upward trend has largely been due to active profit-taking, rather than new capital accumulation.
$1 billion in long positions liquidated, accelerating the decline of Bitcoin
The profit-taking quickly spread to the derivatives market, and the decline in Bitcoin triggered a wave of forced liquidations. More than $1 billion in crypto positions were liquidated, with about $930 million coming from long positions, making it one of the largest long liquidations in recent months.
The drop of Bitcoin to $80,400 forced traders using leverage to close their positions, further expanding their losses. Within the past 24 hours, the scale of liquidations exceeded $1 billion, and in the past hour, it approached $700 million. The combination of large-scale profit-taking and leverage liquidations has created a potentially bearish feedback loop.
Bitcoin Price Analysis: Can BTC Hold Above $80,000?
After the recent decline in Bitcoin, the range of $80,700 to $81,000 has become a focal point for the market. This area is crucial because it is close to the recent lows and has attracted significant buying interest. If this level can be held, buyers may have the opportunity to stabilize the market after a period of selling driven by liquidation.
If the price rebounds above $82,000, that would provide the first sign of reduced selling pressure. Afterwards, it could retest the $85,000 area and later challenge $87,000. If it fails to regain these levels, the short-term outlook will remain weak, and BTC could continue to fall further. If the price breaks below $80,700, $75,000 could become the next major downside target.
Will Bitcoin repeat the sharp decline of October 2025?
The latest round of selling occurred on the eve of the anniversary of the sharp decline in October 2025, when approximately $19 billion worth of crypto positions were liquidated. However, the scale of this current liquidation event is only a fraction of that, so there is not yet sufficient evidence to call it a repeat of the October 10th slump. In addition, large-scale profit-taking and forced liquidations have removed a considerable amount of leverage, and the outflow of funds from ETF indicates that demand still needs to recover before the next round of sustained upward movement can occur.
At present, the next trend to a large extent depends on whether the selling pressure continues after the recent "washout." If the price of Bitcoin ( BTC ) stabilizes, buying interest returns, and there is a re-inflow of funds into ETF, momentum could be rebuilt, and it may test the $80,000 range again before rebounding to $87,000.
