Crypto markets remained under pressure on Thursday as Bitcoin held below $80,000, nearly $400 million in leveraged long positions were liquidated, and altcoins slid broadly in response to hotter-than-expected US inflation data that sent risk assets into retreat.
Bitcoin was trading around $79,800 after dropping as low as $78,720 on Wednesday — still well below its weekly open of $82,500 and unable to reclaim the 200-day moving average at just above $82,000 that has emerged as the defining technical resistance of the current cycle.
What triggered the move: PPI surprises to the upside
Wednesday's Producer Price Index reading provided the macro catalyst for the risk-off turn. PPI rose 6% on an annual basis — its highest level since 2022 — adding to the inflation picture already complicated by Tuesday's hotter-than-expected CPI print. Together, the two inflation reports in as many days have made a compelling case that price pressures are re-accelerating rather than stabilizing, reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve will hold rates at 3.50% to 3.75% not just through June but potentially through the end of the year.
For crypto markets, which have become increasingly sensitive to US macro data as institutional adoption has deepened, the one-two punch of CPI and PPI was enough to unwind positioning that had built up in anticipation of a clean breakout above $82,000.
Derivatives: $400 million in liquidations, longs dominate the damage
The derivatives market told the clearest story of how one-sided bullish positioning had become. Total liquidations surged 68% to nearly $400 million over 24 hours, with the vast majority coming from long positions. Bitcoin alone saw $117 million in liquidations, of which $102 million — roughly 87% — were longs. The concentration of liquidations on the bullish side confirms that a significant portion of the market had been positioned for an upside breakout above the 200-day moving average that did not materialize.
Futures volume rose 14% to $189 million over the same period while open interest declined 2% to $133 billion, suggesting that elevated trading activity was driven by position closures rather than new capital entering the market. Bitcoin's open interest edged slightly higher to 750,000 BTC from 745,000 BTC, but the 24-hour cumulative volume delta remained negative — meaning sell orders dominated buy limit orders throughout the session, a sign of persistent selling pressure beneath the surface.
Ethereum's open interest reached a record high of 15.42 million tokens earlier Thursday, surpassing the previous peak of 15.33 million set in July. The record OI in a range-bound market — ETH has largely oscillated between $2,200 and $2,450 over the past four weeks — reflects growing demand for leverage without a clear directional conviction behind it.
Across the broader market, the open-interest-adjusted cumulative volume delta for most of the top 25 coins remained negative, pointing to sustained selling pressure that could extend downside risk particularly in the altcoin market, which is heavily influenced by derivatives positioning.
Options market signals hedging demand
In the options market, the most actively traded contract on Thursday was the $75,000 strike Bitcoin put expiring May 29 — a downside hedge that signals meaningful demand for protection against a drop toward that level. The presence of that put as the most traded contract, while the remaining top five most active contracts were calls, reflects a market that is simultaneously hedging downside and maintaining some bullish exposure — a positioning profile consistent with uncertainty rather than clear directional conviction.
Despite the volatility and the CLARITY Act markup scheduled for Thursday, both Bitcoin and Ether 30-day implied volatility indexes remained subdued, suggesting the options market is not yet pricing in a sharp directional move in either direction.
Altcoins: memecoins lead losses, 75 of top 100 in the red
The altcoin market bore the brunt of Thursday's risk-off move. The Altcoin Season indicator dropped back to 43 out of 100 after briefly touching 50 on Monday, reflecting the rapid deterioration in broader crypto risk appetite. Of the 100 assets in the CoinDesk 100, 75 were in the red on Thursday.
Memecoins led losses, with the CoinDesk Memecoin Select Index tumbling more than 4% since midnight UTC and over 10% across the full 24-hour period. The DeFi Select Index also showed weakness, losing 1%, while the Bitcoin-heavy CoinDesk 20 index held up comparatively well with only a 0.16% decline — illustrating the same dynamic visible in the ETH/BTC ratio, where Bitcoin's relative defensiveness continues to outperform higher-beta crypto assets.
Restaking token ETHFI led individual declines among tracked assets, falling 4.1% since midnight and 7.5% over 24 hours. A handful of tokens bucked the trend: XDC rose 7.5% and Humanity Protocol broke out of a recent downtrend with a 3.9% gain since midnight UTC.
What to watch
The CLARITY Act markup in the Senate Banking Committee, scheduled for Thursday, remains a potential positive catalyst that could shift sentiment if it advances as expected. Multiple analysts have flagged a clean procedural win on the bill as a trigger for renewed institutional buying regardless of the macro backdrop.
On the technical side, Bitcoin's ability to hold above $78,720 — Wednesday's session low — will be closely watched as the key near-term support level. CryptoQuant has identified $70,000 as the broader support floor if the current weakness extends, representing the average cost basis of the market as a whole. A recovery above $82,000 and the 200-day moving average would be required to shift the technical picture back to bullish.
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