Bitcoin Falls Below $108K Amid $320M Liquidations as Excess Leverage Gets Flushed Out
More than $320 million in liquidations hit as bitcoin slipped under $108,000 and total crypto market value fell 3.2%
Updated Oct 21, 2025, 1:46 p.m. Published Oct 21, 2025, 10:33 a.m.
Bitcoin was trading below $108,000 at 9:20 a.m. UTC as $320 million in liquidations and spot crypto ETF outflows hit a market down 3.2%.
BTC was trading at $107,779 during the European morning, 2.8% lower in the last 24 hours, according to CoinDesk data. Ether ETH$3,873.75 and solana SOL$186.92 have both fallen more than 3.5%, while numerous other altcoins nursed losses in excess of 4%.
The CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20), which offers a weighted measure of the digital asset market, is about 3.5% lower.
CoinGlass data shows 122,919 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours, totaling $320.32 million, including a single $2.98 million ETH-USDT order on Binance.
Flows started the week softer: U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs saw a $40.4 million net outflow Monday, Oct. 20, including $100.7 million from BlackRock’s IBIT, according to Farside Investors.
Sentiment sat in “Fear” at 34 on the Crypto Fear & Greed Index.
Bloomberg reported gold at $4,270 an ounce, a drop of 1.97% today.
Glassnode said open interest (OI) fell about 30%, flushing excess leverage and that funding is near neutral, leaving the market less vulnerable to another liquidation cascade.
OI is the number of outstanding futures and perpetual contracts; when it drops sharply, it usually means leverage has been closed out. Funding is the fee longs or shorts pay to keep perpetual positions open; when it moves toward neutral, it signals neither side is paying a premium, so positioning is more balanced.
In practice, less leverage and near-neutral funding can reduce the odds of another forced-selling cascade, even if price action stays choppy.
Analyst Michaël van de Poppe said on X that bitcoin’s monthly chart is moving sideways — no clear peak or bottom — before a bigger move higher. In plain terms, he sees this phase as a pause long enough to shake out excess leverage while price holds a broad range, with the next strong advance more likely once that base-building is done.
AI Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.
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