Why Is Crypto Down Today? Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP and Dogecoin Slip After $400M Liquidation Wave

Crypto prices fell today (Wednesday) after a 20-minute sell-off in bitcoin wiped out more than $400 million in leveraged long positions. Bitcoin (BTC) dropped 1.6% to $84,218 on Binance by 07:01 UTC, while ether lost 3%, XRP 1.5% and Dogecoin 3.1% on Bitstamp.

The flush hit between about 01:45 and 02:10 UTC, according to CoinGlass liquidation data.

It came as Brent crude climbed back above $101 a barrel and the 10-year Treasury yield rose to about 5.3%. Traders are also waiting for minutes of the Federal Reserve's (Fed) September meeting later on Wednesday.

On my charts, all four coins turned lower from resistance. Ether, XRP and Dogecoin are already testing their nearest support, and bitcoin Bitcoin While some may still be wondering what is Bitcoin, who created Bitcoin, or how does Bitcoin work, one thing is certain: Bitcoin has changed the world.No one can remain indifferent to this revolutionary, decentralized, digital asset nor to its blockchain technology.In fact, we’ve gone a long way ever since a Florida resident Laszlo Hanyecz made BTC’s first official commercial transaction with a real company by trading 10,000 Bitcoins for 2 pizzas at his local Papa John’s.One could now argue that While some may still be wondering what is Bitcoin, who created Bitcoin, or how does Bitcoin work, one thing is certain: Bitcoin has changed the world.No one can remain indifferent to this revolutionary, decentralized, digital asset nor to its blockchain technology.In fact, we’ve gone a long way ever since a Florida resident Laszlo Hanyecz made BTC’s first official commercial transaction with a real company by trading 10,000 Bitcoins for 2 pizzas at his local Papa John’s.One could now argue that Read this Term is about 2% above its own.

London's trading industry is coming home!

How Low Can Bitcoin Go?

On my daily chart, bitcoin turned lower again from resistance at $87,100, the barrier I flagged in my October 5 bitcoin analysis. Wednesday's low of $83,577 put the price 4% below that level.

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As long as $87,100 holds, I see room for a correction to at least $82,206, the support set by the May highs, about 2.4% below the current price. If that local support gives way, the next stop is the 50-day exponential moving average near $79,608, about 5.5% lower.

Paul Howard, senior director at Wincent, described the market as stuck in a range a day before the drop.

"Bitcoin remains range bound at the $85k level despite corporate buying notably from Saylor," Howard said on Tuesday.

Jeff Anderson, head of US at STS Digital, called $82,000 the level to watch on September 29 and said a breakdown "will probably yield a slip back into the high 70s," which would put the 50-day average in play.

Can Ether Hold $2,600?

Ether rejected resistance even more sharply. ETH fell from $2,756.8, the level I set as the next target in my September 19 ether analysis, and touched $2,591.8 on Bitstamp before recovering to $2,617.7.

That puts ether right on local support near $2,616. If $2,600 cracks on a daily close, my chart shows three supports below it: the 50-day EMA near $2,505, the September lows around $2,393 and the 200-day EMA near $2,296. They sit about 4%, 9% and 12% below the current price.

What Is the Next Support for XRP?

XRP was meant to be completing a bull flag aimed at about $1.97, roughly 34% above the current price. The pattern was already on pause when crypto last pulled back on September 24, and for now the move is stalling.

XRP is testing support near $1.46 again. It dipped to $1.431 intraday on Bitstamp before recovering to $1.474, so the level has not yet failed on a closing basis.

If it does, a cluster of supports sits around $1.40, where the 50-day EMA at $1.401 and the 200-day EMA at $1.379 converge, about 5% to 6% lower. A return above $1.56 would put the flag target back on the table.

Is Dogecoin Losing Its Flag Breakout?

Dogecoin also tried to build a flag after the breakout I described in my September 21 Dogecoin analysis. It is falling harder than the rest today, down 3.1% to $0.0908.

DOGE is now testing two levels at once: the 50-day EMA at $0.0885 and horizontal support at $0.0884. It dipped to $0.0881 intraday. A daily close below both would expose $0.0800, about 12% lower, while the recovery level is $0.0950.

Why Did a Small Drop Trigger $400 Million in Liquidations?

Leverage Leverage In financial trading, leverage is a loan supplied by a broker, which facilitates a trader in being able to control a relatively large amount of money with a significantly lesser initial investment. Leverage therefore allows traders to make a much greater return on investment compared to trading without any leverage. Traders seek to make a profit from movements in financial markets, such as stocks and currencies.Trading without any leverage would greatly diminish the potential rewards, so traders In financial trading, leverage is a loan supplied by a broker, which facilitates a trader in being able to control a relatively large amount of money with a significantly lesser initial investment. Leverage therefore allows traders to make a much greater return on investment compared to trading without any leverage. Traders seek to make a profit from movements in financial markets, such as stocks and currencies.Trading without any leverage would greatly diminish the potential rewards, so traders Read this Term did most of the work. Bitcoin fell about $1,765 in roughly 20 minutes overnight, and more than 97% of the positions closed in that hour were longs, according to CoinGlass figures.

"Derivatives have become a larger part of the market and now push the asset price around rather than the reverse," Anderson said on Tuesday.

Oliver Carding, head of marketing at Tesseract Group, said on September 29 that about $2.4 billion of the $3.0 billion in ETF inflows over the previous eight sessions arrived on days bitcoin closed above $84,000. Those flows came after the rally that took bitcoin back above $80,000.

A move below $80,000 "would likely put much of that buying at a loss," he said.

Howard sees the bigger picture differently. He noted that many traders are calling the end of the bear market despite a 32% drawdown from October 2025, which he said would make it one of the shallowest in bitcoin's history.

The Fed minutes are the next test. A bitcoin close below $82,206 and an ether close below $2,600 would turn today's flush into the correction my charts point to, while closes back above $87,100 and $2,757 would cancel it.