Bitcoin (BTC) fell under $87,000 after Monday’s Wall Street open as sellers liquidated $200 million of BTC longs.
Key points:
- Bitcoin falls as low as $86,625 as a round of distribution accompanies the return of Wall Street.
- Consensus favors fresh lows before a potential BTC price recovery can take place.
- Strategy reveals another 10,000 BTC buy, this time at prices above $92,000.
Bitcoin longs pay the price as market falls fast
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView captured a volatile start to the US TradFi trading week.
BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
Sell pressure increased at the opening bell, with market commentators singling out Binance and Wintermute as sources of supply.
🚨 BREAKING:
BINANCE AND WINTERMUTE DUMPING MILLIONS OF $BTC
THEY LIQUIDATED OVER $100M LONG POSITIONS IN 5 MINUTES
THIS IS PURE MANIPULATION!! 👀 pic.twitter.com/0dliky4ypv
— ᴛʀᴀᴄᴇʀ (@DeFiTracer) December 15, 2025
Long liquidations quickly mounted, and at the time of writing had passed $200 million in a little over an hour, per data from CoinGlass.
Total crypto liquidations (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass
Commenting, already bearish traders saw little reason to believe that a trend reversal or even a significant relief bounce would come next.
“My only issue now is selling volume isn’t very high so we will likely catch another bounce around 84k,” trader Roman wrote in an X update.
“Even if we bounce, I still believe we get to 76k in due time.”
BTC liquidation heatmap. Source: CoinGlass
Analyzing exchange order-book data, trader Daan Crypto Trades described current price action as a “massive liquidity hunt.”
“I think it will just be more bart moves all over,” he predicted about the outlook into the new year, referring to a chart phenomenon where price suddenly rises or falls, only to stage a repeat move back to its original position later.
BTC/USDT four-hour chart. Source: AlejandroBTC/X
AlejandroBTC was among those who were more optimistic about the eventual outcome despite the price nearing new month-to-date lows.
“We finally broke the range that’s been forming since early December. This tells me we’re going to sweep the next set of lows still operating inside a larger range,” he told X followers.
“Nothing has changed. Direction is unclear short-term, but I still expect a test of 100K–105K once this range resolves.”
Strategy hits BTC “buy” at $92,000
In classic fashion, BTC price downside increased as Strategy, the public company with the world’s largest Bitcoin treasury, announced another purchase.
This time, a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stated that the company bought 10,645 BTC at an average price of $92,098 per coin.
Saylor can buy $10 billion and the price would still dump because they're not dumping real Bitcoin.
Happy Monday US market open. pic.twitter.com/wE78IZVdiM
— WhalePanda (@WhalePanda) December 15, 2025
As responses bemoaned the detrimental impact on price performance, onchain analysis argued that a long-term bottom was already forming.
“As expected, the premium that Bitcoin longs are paying shorts on leveraged trades reversed at the top of the descending pattern that we've seen since July,” On-Chain College wrote in an X post covering funding rates on Bitcoin futures markets.
“This chart suggests a bottom is being ironed out but a further drop in both price and funding rates is expected first.”
Bitcoin futures funding rate data. Source: On-Chain College/X
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