Bitcoin fell sharply below the psychologically important $70,000 level on Tuesday, trading around $69,300–$69,000 — its lowest since early April. The decline intensified concerns as derivatives markets flashed some of the most elevated risk signals of the current cycle.
Open interest across bitcoin futures markets surged to approximately 773,000 BTC, a level seen only a few times historically, according to Coinglass data. Prior peaks have often aligned with local market tops. Meanwhile, perpetual futures funding rates rose to roughly 10% annualized, indicating that leveraged longs are paying heavily to maintain positions, betting on a quick rebound rather than reducing risk.
The selloff triggered $768 million in liquidations across crypto markets, with $448 million in BTC and $92 million in ETH. Despite this, bitcoin open interest remained near $19.2 billion, and the three-month basis held near 3%, showing that some risk appetite persists even as downside hedging demand jumped.
Broader sentiment painted a cautious picture. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index remained in 'fear' territory, and the Coinbase Premium Index stayed deeply negative at around -100, signaling weak demand from U.S. institutional and spot investors — a trend mirrored by continued outflows from U.S. spot BTC ETFs. Bitcoin’s market dominance slid to 56.3%, down about 2% in a week, while total crypto market capitalization slipped below $2.5 trillion.
Adding to the unease, Strategy reported a $2.5 million BTC sale following a separate $30 million transfer to Coinbase Prime last week. The breakdown of the $73,000–$74,000 support zone left traders watching the $68,600 level as a critical liquidation trigger if prices weaken again.
