Just caught up on why crypto is down so much lately. So basically there's been this massive deleveraging wave happening over the past few weeks, and today it just accelerated hard. Bitcoin dropped below $75k for the first time in ages, which triggered a cascade of liquidations. I'm seeing roughly $237 million in BTC long positions got wiped out just yesterday, but that's honestly just the tip. Over the past week alone, we're talking $2.16 billion in BTC liquidations. When Bitcoin starts getting liquidated like that, it creates this feedback loop where forced sells push the price lower, triggering even more liquidations.

The bigger picture on why the market is down is that leverage has been unwinding for weeks now. Open interest in perpetual futures dropped about 4.4% in a single day, which is massive. Over the past month, total derivatives exposure is down around 34%. So this isn't just today's panic, it's been building. Plus there's this broader risk-off sentiment hitting everything, not just crypto. Stocks are weak, people are worried about monetary policy tightening, and traders are just cutting positions across the board.

What's interesting is why crypto is down specifically comes down to Bitcoin's dominance. When BTC moves, everything else follows. Altcoins are getting crushed because traders are deleveraging across the entire market. The key thing to watch now is whether Bitcoin can hold above $75k. If it breaks below that, we could see $70k become the next target. Until leverage stops clearing and we get some stabilization, expect this volatility to stick around.