What you need to know:
- Bitcoin (BTC) falls 7.53% to $77,882 after a major sell-off and forced liquidations on January 31, 2026.
- More than $2.41 billion in long positions disappeared, marking one of the largest recent deleveraging events.
- Important support at $74,000 under pressure; a breakout could accelerate the downward trend towards lower liquidity zones.
- Funding rates turn negative, reflecting weak sentiment and limited upside potential for BTC in the short term.
Bitcoin (BTC) continued its sharp decline on Saturday, January 31, 2026, after the brutal sell-off initiated a wave of forced liquidations in the crypto derivatives market. This move also reflects the defensive sense of risk prevailing in the market.
Currently, Bitcoin’s price is trading at $77,882, down 7.53% over the past 24 hours, as shown by CoinMarketCap data.
Trading activity also fell during the sell-off, with 24-hour volume reaching $68 billion and BTC’s market capitalization falling to around $1.56 trillion.
Source: CoinMarketcap
The decline comes after a nearly 13% decline over the past week as macro uncertainties and de-risking fueled the sell-off in the digital asset space.
Bitcoin Selloff Causes Heavy Liquidations
Daan Crypto Trades’ market commentary described The move was seen as a “pretty brutal weekend sell-off,” with highly leveraged long positions being aggressively liquidated.
In a weekend market commentary, this trader pointed out that a large whale position was liquidated during this decline. This resulted in an estimated $100 million loss in daily profit and loss, increasing selling pressure on large-cap crypto assets.
The liquidation data shows that approximately $2.41 billion in long positions were liquidated in the last 24 hours. This is a signal that one of the most serious events in deleveraging has occurred in recent weeks.
Also read: Bitcoin ETFs hit with a $1.82 billion shock as investors panic
The collapse of open interest rates marks the deleveraging phase
Moreover, the bearish case is strengthened by a significant decline in aggregate open interest on major exchanges identified by GL Crypto. This is a clear indicator of forced closures rather than liquidations.
This is a clear indicator of a market-wide deleveraging cycle, which is common during periods of high volatility.
Source: GL Crypto
Funding rates for all Bitcoin perpetual futures products are now firmly negative, which could be a sign that longs have been squeezed out of the market while shorts have entered the market at lower levels.
Negative financing can be a harbinger of a relief rally, but can also reflect weak sentiment and a lack of confidence in a potential rally.
$74K emerges as a key technical battleground
From a technical point of view, the focus has now shifted to the $74,000 price level, which was a key resistance area in 2024 but has now become a support area following the April 2025 breakout.
Source: Daan Crypto Trades X Post
A significant move below this level will indicate a loss of major support, which could lead to a further decline towards areas of lower liquidity.
GL Crypto has highlighted how, despite the fact that the downtrend is still driven by selling pressure, there could be a consolidation move in the short term due to a decrease in liquidation pressure.
However, without a move to reclaim major resistance areas above $80,000, this will likely remain a corrective move and not a sign of a trend change.
Also read: Bitcoin Crash Below $79,000 as Liquidations of $650 Million Shake the Crypto Market
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