Bitcoin Posts Worst Weekly Loss Since FTX Collapse as Liquidations Top $136 Million

Bitcoin recorded its steepest weekly decline since the FTX implosion, shedding 16 percent and dragging the price below $60,000 as more than $136 million in $BTC positions were forcibly closed. The move was not a single-catalyst shock — it was the compounding effect of two structural drains hitting a market already running thin on conviction.

The Mechanics: Liquidations, Not Just Sentiment

When a leveraged long gets margin-called, the exchange sells the collateral into the market, which pushes the price lower, which triggers the next liquidation. That cascade is what $136 million in forced Bitcoin closures looks like from the outside. The number matters because it confirms the selling was at least partly mechanical — not just discretionary holders deciding to exit, but the market structure eating itself. Who was on the other side buying into that flush is the question that rarely gets asked.

Two Macro Anchors Doing the Damage

The source identifies two drivers pulling in the same direction: geopolitical tensions and sustained outflows from Bitcoin exchange-traded funds. ETF outflows are the more structurally significant of the two. When institutional vehicles that were marketed as a new demand floor start bleeding assets, the narrative of permanent, patient capital absorbing every dip gets harder to sustain. Geopolitical pressure adds a risk-off layer — the kind of environment where managers reduce exposure to high-volatility assets first. Together, they removed the bid without needing a single dramatic headline to do it.

The FTX Benchmark

Citing the FTX collapse as the last comparable weekly drawdown is a useful reference point, but it cuts both ways. That event involved the sudden revelation of fraud at a major exchange — an idiosyncratic shock with a clear cause. This week's move appears driven by external macro conditions and fund flows rather than any internal market failure. Whether that makes the current selloff more or less alarming depends on whether those macro conditions are likely to persist. ETF outflows, unlike a one-time exchange collapse, can continue for weeks.

The 16 percent figure now sits as the line traders will watch. A failure to reclaim $60,000 with any conviction turns support into resistance, and the next catalyst becomes easier to find in a market already looking for an exit.