Bitcoin fell below $72,000 on Thursday as forced selling swept crypto derivatives markets, with more than $656 million in positions liquidated in 24 hours. It was changing hands near $71,888 on Bitstamp, after trading above $76,000 earlier in the week.

Coinglass data showed about $555 million of the liquidations were long positions, bets on rising prices, with just over $100 million in shorts also closed out. More than 122,000 traders were liquidated, and the largest single loss was a $31.09 million bitcoin long on Hyperliquid, closed at about $72,250.

Bitcoin accounted for $237 million of the liquidations, followed by ether at $122 million and Solana at about $23 million. Binance represented roughly 37% of the exchange-level activity, with about $226.5 million in positions disappearing around 8.15am Eastern time.

ETF outflows add to the pressure

The sell-off came amid persistent withdrawals from US spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds. CoinDesk reported that the funds lost $299.9 million on Wednesday, a fifth straight day of outflows that adds up to around $1.44 billion since 5 November. Ether also slid, trading near $2,000 and down 24% this quarter, against bitcoin's 12% slide over the same period.

Traders also pointed to the turmoil at Nvidia, where chief executive Jensen Huang stepped down on Thursday, and to firmer-than-expected US inflation data, which has strengthened expectations of another Federal Reserve rate rise in December. CoinDesk noted that the futures market has seen capital leave too, with open interest down 2.9% against a 0.6% price fall.

For now, the market faces an uncomfortable mix of falling prices and disappearing leverage. Bitcoin.com News reported that recovering the $75,600 to $75,700 region could improve the technical picture, though that level offers no guarantee of renewed demand.

Sources: Bitcoin.com News, CoinDesk