Pre-monthly close market dump sees Bitcoin (BTC) price drop below $24,000

Ahead of the monthly close in the coming days, the crypto market, led by Bitcoin (BTC), has experienced rising bearish sentiment.

Crypto prices have dropped, and major crypto traders liquidated over $336 million in the past 24 hours as a result of the sudden crypto selloff.

What Happened: According to data from the crypto derivatives exchange, FTX, more than $336 million was liquidated from the leveraged crypto market in the past 24 hours.

Of the liquidated traders, about 80 percent were involved in long positions, while the remaining 20 percent were short positions. The majority of the liquidations occurred on BTC positions, which accounted for over $186 million.

Top 10 Traders Liquidated In The Past 24 Hours

At the time of writing, BTC was trading at $66,138, down 1.7 percent, while ETH was trading at $1,909, down 5 percent, and XRP was trading at $2.24, down 3 percent, in the 24-hour period.

Why Is Crypto Price Dropping?

The crypto market has seen bearish sentiment in the run-up to the U.S. tariff implementation on April 2.

The relatively high inflation readings for February, especially in the Core Personal Consumption Expenditures, are expected to increase pressure on the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates higher for longer.

This could dampen demand for risk-sensitive assets such as equities and crypto in the coming months.

According to market data analysis from Glassnode, short-term crypto investors have been offloading their holdings, while long-term investors are gradually accumulating.

The overall demand for stablecoins has gradually increased as investors are keen to protect their capital from devaluation amid the ongoing bearish sentiment.