Bitcoin has experienced a sharp decline, dropping below the $66,000 mark, which has led to massive liquidations in the cryptocurrency futures market and triggered a wave of ‘extreme fear’ among investors.
This is reported by Finway
Massive Liquidations and Bitcoin Price Drop
On June 3, 2026, the price of Bitcoin fell below $66,000 but later partially recovered, holding around $67,000 at the time of writing. Since the beginning of June, the leading cryptocurrency has shown a downward trend, having traded around $74,000 at the start of the month.
Amid this market movement, there was a sharp spike in liquidations in the futures segment. According to CoinGlass, over the last 24 hours, the volume of forcibly closed positions amounted to more than $1.86 billion. Nearly 280,000 traders were affected, most of whom held long positions — their losses reached $1.65 billion. The remaining liquidations were from short positions. Traders in pairs with Bitcoin and Ethereum suffered the most, losing $898 million and $482 million respectively.
Panic Sentiments and Geopolitical Pressure
The cryptocurrency Fear and Greed Index dropped from 23 to 11 points in a day, corresponding to the ‘extreme fear’ zone. This level of the indicator reflects panic sentiments among investors.
Analysts from the Santiment platform reported a predominance of bearish expectations on social media amid Bitcoin’s decline. Traders anticipate further price drops after the recent local lows since early April. One of the pressure factors mentioned is news about Bitcoin sales by the company Strategy.
“Historically, the prevalence of bearish comments over bullish ones on social media often indicates capitulation among retail investors. After such periods, the market frequently transitions to a recovery rally,” analysts noted.
Additionally, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have further impacted the crypto market. The U.S. announced sanctions against the largest Iranian crypto exchanges — Nobitex, Bitpin, Ramzinex, and Wallex. America also reported on Iran’s missile launches towards Kuwait and Bahrain, some of which were intercepted, and in response, struck an Iranian military facility on Qeshm Island.
Major Players Reducing BTC Holdings
According to Santiment’s observations, one of the main reasons for the decline was the activity of large Bitcoin holders. Addresses with balances from 10 BTC to 10,000 BTC reduced their reserves by 24,602 BTC over the past week, equivalent to an 18% decrease.
Meanwhile, small investors holding less than 0.01 BTC began to increase their holdings — their reserves grew by 12% (by 61 BTC) over the week.
Analysts suggest that the future actions of large and small holders may determine the optimal entry point for new investments if the correction continues.