Bitcoin and Ethereum prices plummet, over $170 million worth of long positions liquidated

The price of Bitcoin fell below $59,000 late Tuesday, according to CoinGecko Data that hit lows not seen in a week. The drop of more than 3% was echoed by Ethereum, which fell below $2,500.

The sudden price drop triggered the liquidation of long positions worth over $170 million within a single hour, according to Coin jarangering investors who were speculating on rising asset prices. These liquidations were dominated by BTC and ETH investors, with $65 million and $52 million in long positions, respectively.

Bitcoin had seen a solid rise above $63,000 on Friday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell announced a rate cut next month. However, BTC’s price stumbled yesterday before the latest decline.

The price of Solana (SOL) also fell by more than 6% during the day to $147. Tokens such as XRP and Dogecoin (DOGE) also recorded losses of more than 5% in 24 hours on Tuesday.

There does not seem to be a specific trigger for the rapid turnaround, as US stock markets ended Tuesday with largely unchanged prices.

Some analysts have pointed out that the current Bitcoin price trend is on its way to “equilibrium.” A recent report from crypto analytics platform Coinglass noted that this could precede a period of “increased volatility.”

Fairlead Strategies warned of a “seasonal weakness in September” in its latest report. The company uses technical analysis to make its forecasts and suggested “another two months of corrective price action.”