The cryptocurrency market continues its downward spiral this week, having seen about $191 million worth of crypto derivatives contracts liquidated in the last 24 hours.

Bitcoin (BTC) is the most impacted, accounting for half of the total liquidations, of roughly $103 million. Ethereum (ETH) follows with $33 million in liquidations. This follows the 24-hour tally rising to $330 million yesterday afternoon after Bitcoin fell below $60,000 for the first time since early May.

This sharp rise in liquidations is reflective of the heightened market volatility and bearish sentiment.

The Bitcoin price dipped by 2.2% in the last 24 hours to sell for $61,516.48, while the Ethereum price shaved off 0.7% to trade at $3,382.27 on Tuesday.

BTC and ETH have lost about 6.5% and 1.4% in the last seven days, respectively. But relative to the plunges they saw yesterday, both coins are on the up. Bitcoin is 0.2% higher than it was this time yesterday and Ethereum has rebounded 1.8%.

“What’s happening right now with Bitcoin prices is mostly related to a lack of demand growth or momentum from traders, whales, ETFs,” Julio Moreno, head of research at CryptoQuant, said on Twitter.

Another analyst at CrypoQuant, who goes by the pseudonymn Mignolet, suggested on Twitter that accumulation whales may swoop in to halt the bearish for a “potential V-shaped rebound.”

The current wave of liquidations primarily affected long positions, according to CoinGlass. This trend has been observed across various exchanges, suggesting a widespread market reaction to recent negative news and economic data.

In the past 24 hours, 64,829 traders were liquidated, the total liquidations comes in at $294.14 million, according to CoinGlass. The largest liquidation order was on a BTCUSDT contract valued at just over $15 million.

Bitcoin and Ethereum lead liquidations

That Bitcoin is hardest hit in these liquidations highlights the continued volatility in the market’s largest cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin’s price has been under pressure due to macroeconomic factors, regulatory concerns, and market sentiment shifts. Last week, German authorities sold off seized Bitcoin worth about $325 million within 48 hours.

“Having seen a slippage in the price of BTC, the German government is releasing significant tranches of BTC and has taken a view that the price of BTC is to soften for a while to come,” Robert Quartly-Janeiro, chief strategy officer at crypto exchange Bitrue, told Decrypt last week.

As traders’ positions are forcibly closed, the ripple effect has further pressured BTC's price, contributing to a sustained bearish market outlook.

Ethereum also faced significant liquidations, albeit to a lesser extent than Bitcoin.

The $33 million in ETH liquidations since this time yesterday underscores the challenges faced by the second-largest cryptocurrency, which has also been dealing with similar market pressures and investor sentiment.

Edited by Stacy Elliott.