Bitcoin triggers $1.48B liquidation wave after PCE inflation fuels rate fears

Bitcoin’s drop below $60,000 has triggered nearly $1.48 billion in crypto liquidations after fresh U.S. inflation data reinforced expectations that interest rates could remain higher for longer.

Bitcoin ( $BTC ) fell 3.3% to an intraday low of $58,188 on June 25 before recovering to around $59,200 at press time. Ethereum ( $ETH ) declined 4.7% to $1,567, while XRP dropped 3.7% to $1.03. The total cryptocurrency market capitalization also fell 2.2% to $2.13 trillion.

According to data, more than 217,700 traders were liquidated over the past 24 hours, with total losses reaching approximately $1.48 billion. Long positions accounted for $1.21 billion of those liquidations, while short traders lost about $270 million. Bitcoin led the selloff with roughly $665 million in liquidations, followed by Ethereum at $359 million and XRP at $50.5 million.

Derivatives positioning keeps volatility elevated

Alongside the spot market decline, traders are preparing for one of the largest Bitcoin options expiries of the year. Data from Deribit shows roughly $9.33 billion in Bitcoin options, representing 157,611 open contracts, are scheduled to expire on Friday.

Call open interest is concentrated between the $75,000 and $90,000 strike prices, while put positioning is clustered across the $20,000 to $70,000 range. Deribit’s max pain price stands at $72,000, well above Bitcoin’s current market price. With Bitcoin trading far below the largest call positions, options traders could continue adjusting hedges into expiry, increasing short-term price swings.

Meanwhile, XRP derivatives remain tilted toward bullish positioning despite the broader selloff. CoinGlass data shows Binance XRP traders maintained a 2.53 long-to-short ratio, while an exchange traders posted a 2.68 ratio, suggesting many participants are still positioned for a rebound. However, such crowded long positioning can increase liquidation risk if selling pressure persists.

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