Over $1 billion in liquidations: Why is Bitcoin down today?

Bitcoin dropped below $106,505.22 on Nov. 3, down 3.6% in 24 hours, as a strengthening US dollar and sustained ETF outflows pressured crypto across the board. As of press time, Bitcoin has lost that key support level, now trading below $104,000 for the first sustained time since June.

Ethereum trades at $3,490, falling 9%, while Solana declined 13% to $159. XRP, Cardano, Dogecoin, and BNB each posted double-figure losses.

The DXY dollar index traded at 99.886 as of press time, up 0.2% and near a three-month high following a 0.8% weekly gain.

The dollar’s strength typically weighs on Bitcoin because crypto functions as a non-yielding alternative asset. When the dollar rises, investors shift toward dollar-denominated instruments that offer positive real yields, thereby reducing demand for Bitcoin and other digital assets.

Additionally, traders positioned defensively ahead of this week’s US economic data releases, following the Federal Reserve’s hawkish tone in its latest policy statement.

The week features several high-impact reports. ISM manufacturing data is released on Nov. 3, and services PMI and ADP employment numbers are released on Nov. 5.

The week closes on Nov. 7 with the nonfarm payrolls report, the most closely watched indicator of the labor market.

University of Michigan consumer sentiment data, also due Nov. 7, rounds out a data-heavy schedule that will inform Federal Reserve policy expectations and dollar direction.

Adding to the selling pressure, US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $1.15 billion in cumulative outflows from October. From Oct. 29 through Oct. 31, according to Farside Investors’ data. This added selling pressure as November opened.

Those redemptions removed a structural support layer that had absorbed selling from crypto-native participants during earlier market declines, as ETF flows function as demand stabilizers.

Derivatives liquidations compounded the decline. CoinGlass data shows nearly $1.15 billion in long positions liquidated in the past 24 hours, with approximately $330 million concentrated in Ethereum futures after ETH fell below the $3,900 threshold.

Liquidations occur when leveraged traders’ positions close automatically as prices move against them, creating forced selling that accelerates downward momentum.

The combination of macroeconomic headwinds, dollar strength tied to the Fed’s hawkishness, and market structure pressures from ETF outflows and derivatives liquidations created conditions where selling reinforced itself across spot and futures markets.

This week’s US economic data releases will determine whether the dollar sustains its recent strength. Any reversal in DXY would ease pressure on Bitcoin and broader crypto markets.

Until then, the absence of ETF inflows and the overhang from liquidated leveraged positions leave digital assets vulnerable to continued volatility.

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