Cryptocurrency keeps falling! BTC plunges to $74k, with over $2.5 billion in liquidations across the network

The crypto market experienced a brief sharp decline, with Bitcoin falling below $76,000 and dropping to $74,500, causing a surge in total liquidation amounts across the network. This volatility was intertwined with multiple factors including the hawkish signals from new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, institutional profit-taking, and a strengthening US dollar index.
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Table of Contents

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• Warsh Elected Fed Chair: Seismic Waves in the Crypto Market
• Institutional Profit-Taking and Dollar Strength: Multiple Drivers
• Analyst Perspectives: Reset or Opportunity?
• Risk Warning

The crypto market saw a short-term plunge in the afternoon of the 23rd Taiwan time, with Bitcoin dropping below $76,000 and reaching as low as $74,500, with a 24-hour decline of 3.7%. Ethereum also slid to $2,007, a 4.8% drop over 24 hours, and total liquidation across the network continued to rise.

Warsh Elected Fed Chair: Seismic Waves in the Crypto Market

The trigger for this sharp decline is directly related to Kevin Warsh’s official confirmation by Congress as the new Fed Chair. As a more hawkish figure, Warsh’s lower inflation tolerance and expectations of an earlier rate hike cycle prompted the market to reprice the interest rate path. As risk assets, cryptocurrencies bore the brunt, triggering a wave of selling.

According to market data, this volatility caused over $2.5 billion in total liquidations across the network, including long positions in BTC, short positions in ETH, and Layer 1 and DeFi tokens.

Institutional Profit-Taking and Dollar Strength: Multiple Drivers

Multiple institutional reports indicate that the scale of this volatility far exceeds what can be explained by a single Fed appointment. Whale profit-taking, weak inflows into BTC spot ETFs, and the US dollar index (DXY) rising in tandem all contributed to the selling pressure.

Analyst Perspectives: Reset or Opportunity?

Bearish view: Warsh’s hawkish signals imply that the interest rate environment in the second half of 2026 will be tighter than market expectations. BTC may enter a "reset phase," with a short-term test of support at $72,000.

Bullish view: On-chain data shows that at the $74,500 level, whales are actively accumulating. Large addresses (over $10M) increased their BTC spot holdings by about $800 million in the past 24 hours, indicating that institutional funds see this volatility as a "buy the dip" opportunity.

Risk Warning

In the short term, if Warsh’s Fed dot plot continues to push the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield higher, the crypto market could face further valuation compression. Investors should monitor the $72,000–$73,000 range (200-day moving average) and the next liquidation threshold. This article is not investment advice; please exercise risk management.