Just reviewed what happened in the recent market dip, and there were actually several things going on at once. Bitcoin dropped to around $66.5K at the low point, and honestly, if you're wondering why bitcoin fell so hard, the answer wasn't just one thing.

The main culprit was the 10-year Treasury yield jumping near 4.5%, which is the highest since July. When bonds become more attractive, investors rotate out of risky assets like crypto. Add a stronger dollar (DXY hit 100.148) and rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, and you've got a perfect storm pushing people away from volatile positions.

But here's what really caught my attention: there was a massive $15.58 billion in Bitcoin and Ethereum options expiring that Friday, with around $14 billion in BTC contracts. That kind of volume tends to shake things up. On top of that, we saw $451 million in liquidations across 122,488 positions in a single day. The pressure was real.

What's interesting is that institutional money also started pulling back. Bitcoin ETFs saw outflows that week, which usually signals that big players are getting cautious. So when you ask why did bitcoin drop, it's basically a combination of macro headwinds, derivatives expiry, and forced liquidations all hitting at once. ETH, Solana, and other alts followed the same pattern, each down around 5% during the worst of it. Fear index hit 23, which tells you how ugly sentiment got.