On Thursday, April 2, cryptocurrency market liquidations surged to over $456 million, a significant increase from the $271 million recorded the previous day. The data, primarily driven by Bitcoin’s price dropping below $66,000, showed $287 million in long positions and $169 million in short positions were liquidated, indicating widespread selling pressure and dominant bearish sentiment among derivative traders.
Cryptocurrency liquidations escalated dramatically to over $456 million on Thursday, a sharp rise from the $271 million seen on Wednesday. Data from CoinGlass revealed that Bitcoin recorded the highest individual liquidations at $57 million in the past 24 hours. Of the total, $287 million were long liquidations while $169 million were from short positions.
Bitcoin’s price drop below $66,000 on Thursday likely contributed to this short-term selling. While Bitcoin’s funding rate fell into negative territory that day, it had recovered to +0.0008% at the time of reporting.
According to crypto analyst Axel Adler Jr, the Bitcoin Positioning Index indicator’s 30-day moving average reached +3.0 on 17 March. This reading highlighted bullish positioning, but the subsequent price correction pushed the index back below zero, suggesting more aggressive bearish positioning. A return above zero for this metric would be a positive sign for market bulls.
Futures liquidations have been increasingly dominated by long liquidations since October 2025, alluding to persistent bearish strength. A reversal in the positioning index 30SMA above zero, combined with dominance of short liquidations, would signal a bullish regime change. Currently, short positioning remains dominant across the market.
The prevalent bearish sentiment could see Bitcoin test lows below $65,000, potentially dragging the broader crypto market lower. For buyers, a shift in both the positioning index and the liquidations dominance would be a necessary signal for a change in market regime.
