Bitcoin maintains upward momentum despite a recent market retracement that briefly pulled the asset off its all-time highs. After climbing past the $111,000 level last week to set a new record, the cryptocurrency experienced a modest correction.
BTC trades at $109,874 at the time of writing, reflecting a 2.3% daily increase. The move comes amid broader bullish sentiment in the crypto market, with traders weighing recent volatility against long-term structural trends.
Meanwhile, analysts tracking on-chain activity suggest that the recent price pullback may have cleared the path for more sustainable market behavior.
High Leverage Triggers Liquidations Below Key Support Levels
Amr Taha, a contributor to CryptoQuant’s QuickTake platform, highlighted how Bitcoin’s price action flushed out over-leveraged traders while presenting an opportunity for long-term investors to reinforce their positions.
His post titled “Late Longs Wiped Out — Long-Term Holders Seize the Opportunity to Accumulate Bitcoin” points to distinct market behavior unfolding in real time.
Taha noted that Bitcoin’s recent drop below the psychological $111,000 threshold led to two significant long liquidation clusters on Binance. The first wave occurred around the $110,900 mark, wiping out over $97 million in long positions.
Shortly after, a second wave hit as the price breached $109,000, resulting in a further $88 million in liquidated positions. These back-to-back events reflected cascading margin calls from traders using high leverage, a pattern often seen during sharp short-term corrections.
Notably, liquidation clusters tend to emerge when rapid price movements force the automatic closure of margin positions, intensifying sell pressure in the process. This volatility tends to shake out speculative positions and can signal a temporary pause or consolidation phase in the broader trend.
According to Taha, while the market absorbed these liquidations, it simultaneously witnessed a contrasting pattern among long-term holders (LTHs), who remained active throughout the volatility.
Long-Term Holders Accumulate as Liquidations Unfold
While short-term participants absorbed the brunt of the sell-off, LTHs appeared to interpret the price dip as a buying opportunity. Taha highlighted on-chain metrics showing that the LTH realized cap, a measure of the total value paid for held coins by long-term investors, has surged past $28 billion.
This level had not been observed since April, reinforcing the narrative that seasoned market participants are increasing their exposure during moments of market dislocation.
The behavior of long-term holders is often seen as a barometer for market health. Their steady accumulation during liquidation events suggests confidence in Bitcoin’s long-term value trajectory.
Historically, accumulation by LTHs during volatile periods has coincided with later upward price expansions, as coins are removed from circulation and selling pressure is reduced.
With leveraged positions reset and structural accumulation underway, the groundwork may be forming for Bitcoin to attempt another breakout beyond its previous highs.
Featured image created with DALLE, Chart from TradingView
