#Gate广场万圣节 $81,993 Becomes a Lifeline for Longs: Bitcoin Falls Below Cost Basis—How Much Longer Can Leveraged Positions Hold?

The most striking thing about Bitcoin’s pullback isn’t the size of the decline itself, but that the cost basis for long positions has been breached.
CoinbMarkets posted on X that the largest cluster of net long Bitcoin positions currently has an average entry price of $81,993. As BTC slipped below this level, these traders’ positions were once again thrust into the spotlight.
Coinb Markets also noted that 64% of net long notional positions were opened above the spot price, and shared a chart titled “BTC: Net Open Positions by Average Entry Price” as evidence. In other words, a sizable portion of the tracked long exposure was opened at prices above the current level. The further the price falls, the more tangible the pressure on these positions becomes.
BTC fell 1.50% over the past 24 hours to $80,595. The broader crypto market also moved lower, extending the selling mood from earlier this week. Coinglass data shows that $481.25 million was liquidated across the crypto market over the past 24 hours, with longs accounting for the bulk at $346.15 million. Bitcoin liquidations totaled $95.06 million, of which $85.9 million came from longs and just $9.16 million from shorts. The long-short liquidation figures make the predicament facing leveraged longs clear.
The question now is straightforward: if Bitcoin continues to fall, some leveraged longs may be forced to close their positions, which could in turn add further selling pressure. What traders choose to do has become key to the short-term battle: keep adding positions in anticipation of a rebound, or cut exposure and limit losses first? New buying could help Bitcoin reclaim the $81,993 entry zone; but if weakness persists, bullish traders will face even greater pressure.
Signals from the options market are also concerning. In another post on X, Coinb noted that BTC options are pricing in a clear downside bias across the volatility curve. BTC 25-delta skew stands at 11.3% for the 1-day tenor, 10.5% for 1 week, 10.8% for 1 month, and 3.9% for 1 year. At every tenor, implied volatility for puts is higher than that for comparable calls. The much steeper skew at shorter tenors points to greater concern about near-term downside. With leveraged longs defending positions near their cost basis on one side, and the options market paying a premium for downside protection on the other, Bitcoin is caught in a tug-of-war around $80,000 to $82,000. $81,993 is no longer just an average entry price; it has become a psychological threshold for gauging long confidence. Whether the price can climb back above this level, and whether leveraged positions continue to hold firm or begin to unwind, will determine whether this sell-off remains limited or develops into a wave of cascading liquidations. $BTC