Bitcoin Slide Below $85,000 Leads to $1 Billion in Liquidations

Bitcoin can’t catch a break these days. First, traders were decamping from cryptocurrencies to gold and silver as a macro hedge for the falling dollar. Now, Bitcoin is falling with precious metals in a broad risk-off trade, reaffirming its status as leveraged beta to risk assets.

The original cryptocurrency dropped below $85,000 on Thursday for the first time in two months, slumping as much as 6.8% to $83,240. That’s the lowest price since Nov. 21. Smaller digital assets fell more, with Ether, Doge, Cardano and Solana all down at least 7% or more. More than $1 billion in leveraged positions have been wiped out.