Bitcoin Sees First $69,000 Dip in 15 Months as ‘Someone Enormous’ Sells

Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $70,000 on Thursday as suspicions over coordinated selling boiled over.

Key points:

  • Bitcoin tumbles below 2021 highs for the first time since November 2024.

  • Gold and silver volatility spark copycat BTC price maneuvers as lower targets stay in play.

  • Market participants believe that large entities are selling BTC on a schedule.

Bitcoin collapses to $69,000 in fresh cascade

Data from TradingView captured new 15-month BTC price lows of $69,100 on Bitstamp during the Asia trading session.

BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

The latest plunge marked Bitcoinโ€™s first trip to the $60,000 range since early November 2024. In doing so, it sparked $130 million of crypto long liquidations over four hours, per data from monitoring resource CoinGlass.ย 

Crypto liquidations (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass

Bitcoin moved in step with a flash reversal on precious metals.ย 

Gold, which the day prior had seen a relief bounce to $5,100 per ounce, fell as low as $4,789 Thursday before again targeting the $5,000 mark.

Silver, meanwhile, gyrated between $90 and $73 per ounce as volatility stayed in control.

XAG/USD one-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

โ€œ$BTC has entered a key support zone,โ€ trader CW warned in a post on X.ย 

โ€œIf it fails to support the 69k level, another significant decline could occur.โ€

BTC/USDT one-day chart. Source: CW/X

Earlier, traders gave various BTC price bottom targets of interest, with these including the area around $50,000. Directly below $69,000, meanwhile, lies the key 200-week exponential moving average (EMA) support trend line.

BTC/USD one-week chart with 200EMA. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Reacting, crypto entrepreneur Alistair Milne agreed with observations from longtime trader Peter Brandt. Bitcoin, the latter argued, was the victim of โ€œcampaign selling.โ€

โ€œAgree with this take. Someone enormous is unloading to a deadline,โ€ Milne responded on X.

The post likened the current sell-side pressure to when the government of Germany distributed its BTC holdings to the market, suggesting that coins were being โ€œhanded over to OTC desks who simply execute.โ€ย 

โ€œFor me it started 14th Jan,โ€ he added.

Coinbase Premium undercuts Liberation Day low

Nic Puckrin, CEO of crypto education resource Coin Bureau, likewise flagged โ€œlarge sellingโ€ by whales during US hours.

Related: Bitcoin, crypto โ€˜winterโ€™ soon over, says Bitwise exec as gold retargets $5K

As Cointelegraph reported, the negative Coinbase Premium, which measures the difference in price between Coinbaseโ€™s BTC/USD and Binanceโ€™s BTC/USDT pairs, highlighted the lack of overall US Bitcoin demand.

โ€œThe Coinbase Premium is the lowest it has been in over a year. It’s even lower than post liberation day tariffs,โ€ Puckrin noted.

He added that selling pressure would continue until the Premium changed course.

Coinbase Premium Index. Source: Nic Puckrin/X

Charles Edwards, founder of quantitative Bitcoin and digital asset fund Capriole Investments, said that โ€œOGโ€ whales were behaving as if BTC/USD were at all-time highs.