Bitcoin below $84,000: $360 million longs swept before Fed minutes

“The important thing is not the fall, it’s the landing. » La Haine's maxim applies this morning to leveraged traders. Bitcoin broke $84,000 this Wednesday, October 7 in the early morning and is trading around $83,900.

The support that the market had been watching since Monday gave way, barely two days after bitcoin had crossed $85,000.

Bitcoin below $84,000: ten minutes, $360 million

Bitcoin was trading at $83,911, down 1.77% over the last hour, when the liquidation machine started. Quick reminder for those at the bottom: a long position is an upward bet, often financed by borrowing. When the price drops too much, the platform closes the strong position and adds sale to sale.

The WatcherGuru account counted around $360 million in longs shaved in ten minutes, then almost $400 million over twenty minutes, as Ether slipped below $2,600. The two numbers describe the same wave and do not add up. CoinGlass lists $403.6 million in longs liquidated over one hour. It all comes from derivatives. Holders who keep their bitcoins in self-custody have not lost anything, only leveraged accounts have seen their guarantee melt away.

The threshold was known to everyone. Analyst Ali Martinez placed support between $83,300 and $84,600, with $86,700 as the breakout level from above. Regulars will recognize the decor, since this threshold has already given way under liquidations.

Fed minutes at 8 p.m., first test for bitcoin

The minutes of the September meeting are released this evening at 8 p.m. Paris time, three weeks after the decision as planned by the Fed calendar. On September 16, the central bank raised rates by 25 basis points, to 3.75-4%. Since then, employment has disappointed with 29,000 job creations in September compared to 84,000 expected.

The markets now give less than a one in four chance of a further increase in October. The Fed minutes will tell if one side is already slowing down. A more flexible tone would lower yields and the dollar, giving bitcoin some fresh air. The ten-year US Treasury yield ended near 5.28% after the jobs report, and the dollar was hovering near its highest in eighteen months. A text that was firmer than expected would have the opposite effect, and the long survivors of the night would serve as dessert.

Strategy and its 848,000 BTC watch the storm pass

Strategy holds 848,000 bitcoins at an average cost of $75,440. His last batch, 334 bitcoins paid $85,838 on average between October 1 and 4, went into the red. Count around $640,000 in latent losses, a pittance on a group scale.

On the flow side, wallets linked to the US government sent 833.6 BTC to Coinbase Prime on Tuesday October 6 around 6:27 p.m. Paris time, or approximately $71.6 million. The transfer precedes nightfall, and there is no indication that a sale will follow.

TOKEN2049 brings the industry together in Singapore on October 7-8.