Bitcoin dips below $100K
Here are the facts around a sharp BTC drop below $100K:
The move triggered a wave of forced liquidations in derivatives. When price falls quickly, leveraged long positions hit maintenance margins and are auto-closed by exchanges, adding sell pressure and accelerating the decline.
Open interest typically contracts during these cascades as positions are wiped, while funding rates on perpetual swaps often flip negative (shorts paying longs), indicating dominance of short exposure after the flush.
Spot/derivatives divergence is common: during the break, perp-led selling can outpace spot volumes; after the flush, spot buying sometimes reappears as derivatives de-risk.
“Capitulation” refers to discretionary sellers exiting after the mechanical liquidation phase—on-chain and exchange data can show net outflows from long-term holders turning to inflows, and realized losses spiking.
Historically, large drawdowns cluster around catalysts like macro rate shifts, ETF flow slowdowns/pauses, miner selling around difficulty/halving dynamics, or idiosyncratic exchange/issuer news.
Post-flush behavior to date in similar episodes: volatility stays elevated; intraday ranges widen; liquidity at best bid/ask thins; and prices often retest the breakdown zone before establishing a direction.
Commonly watched metrics in this context include: funding rates, open interest, spot vs. perp volume share, order-book depth/imbalance, stablecoin netflows, and realized profit/loss.
No recommendation implied—these points describe mechanics and typical market signatures observed during such drawdowns.