Bitcoin Drops 5% in Asia Rout, $500M Liquidations Hit

Bitcoin liquidations totaling $500 million rocked the crypto market during Asia-hours trading on Monday, February 23, 2026, as Bitcoin (BTC) plunged more than 5% from $67,700 to a low of $64,270 shortly after midnight UTC. The swift selloff — driven by U.S. President Donald Trump's new 15% global tariff announcement and cascading forced liquidations across leveraged positions — mirrored a parallel decline in S&P 500 futures. Bitcoin staged a partial recovery to $66,300 by 11:00 UTC, though that rebound proved short-lived as losses deepened further on February 24.

What Happened: Bitcoin's Overnight Plunge to $64,270

How Far Did Bitcoin Fall and When Did It Recover?

Bitcoin fell more than 5% from $67,700 to a session low of $64,270 in the early hours of Monday, February 23, 2026, as Asia-hours thin liquidity amplified the move. By 11:00 UTC, the coin had clawed back to $66,300, tracing an arc that closely followed U.S. equity futures. Futures tracking the S&P 500 dropped 0.84% when markets opened Sunday evening before beginning their own partial recovery approximately five hours later.

The speed and scale of the overnight rout caught many traders off guard. With total crypto futures open interest sitting below $100 billion for more than two consecutive weeks — a sign of tepid appetite for leveraged exposure — the market had limited cushion to absorb sudden selling pressure. The result was a deleveraging wave that amplified what began as macro-driven risk-off sentiment into a full liquidation cascade.

Why Did Bitcoin Fall? Trump's 15% Tariff Plan Rattled Markets

Gold and Silver Surged as Crypto Sold Off

Bitcoin fell on February 23 because two forces converged simultaneously: a macro shock from U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of new 15% global tariffs on trading partners, and the mechanical amplification of that shock through cascading forced liquidations in the crypto derivatives market. The tariff plan, combined with heightened U.S. military activity near Iran, drove investors toward haven assets and away from risk-sensitive positions — precisely the category crypto occupies in institutional portfolio models. As covered in our earlier report, tariff fears had already been building for days before the February 23 selloff landed.

Gold futures moved in the opposite direction, climbing to their highest level since January 30 on Sunday evening's open before surrendering some of those gains during European hours. Silver tracked gold higher. The simultaneous surge in precious metals alongside crypto's decline is a textbook risk-off rotation — investors liquidating volatile assets in favor of traditional stores of value when geopolitical and trade uncertainty spikes.

Traders continue to deploy capital in futures linked to tokens associated with traditional assets such as gold. Open interest in Tether gold (XAUT) futures increased by 14% in 24 hours even as BTC, ETH, SOL, and others saw capital outflows.

— Market Data, CoinGlass

$500M in Crypto Futures Liquidated in 24 Hours

Altcoins Hit Hardest — SOL and SUI Tumbled 7-8%

According to CoinGlass data, exchanges forcibly closed $500 million in crypto futures bets within 24 hours as margin shortages triggered a chain reaction across leveraged positions. Of that total, $270 million came from altcoin liquidations alone, with Solana (SOL) and SUI absorbing the heaviest blows — each tumbling between 7% and 8% before recovering during European trading hours. The concentrated losses in thin Asia-hours liquidity transformed what might have been a modest correction into a sharper repricing event.

The broader crypto liquidations in February 2026 have formed a pattern: repeated waves of forced selling against a backdrop of declining open interest, steadily eroding the leveraged positioning that had built up during January's rally. With open interest stuck below $100 billion for over two weeks, each successive shock finds less liquidity to cushion the blow.

Token-specific damage varied widely. pump.fun's native PUMP token lost 8.5% of its value before staging a bounce, while layer zero (ZRO) began selling off early on Sunday, losing 16.5% over 24 hours before recovering at 04:00 UTC. On the other end of the spectrum, restaking token ETHFI rose more than 10% from its Monday morning low — a sharp outlier against the broader market. Toncoin (TON), the Telegram-linked network token, showed relative stability, declining just 3.6% before bouncing 4.9%.

• BTC: -5.1% to $64,270 low / Recovered to $66,300 by 11:00 UTC
• SOL: -7% to -8% / Recovered during European hours
• SUI: -7% to -8% / Recovered during European hours
• PUMP (pump.fun): -8.5% / Bounced, partial recovery
• ZRO (LayerZero): -16.5% over 24h / Partial recovery from 04:00 UTC
• ETHFI (restaking token): +10%+ from Monday low / Outperformer
• TON (Toncoin): -3.6% / Bounced +4.9%

What Do Derivatives Data Say About Bitcoin's Next Move?

BVIV Jumps 9% as Traders Chase Put Options at $58K-$62K

Derivatives markets are flashing caution signals. Bitcoin's 30-day implied volatility index (BVIV) — which measures the market's expectation of future price swings — surged 9% to above 60% during the selloff, its sharpest spike in weeks and a sign of renewed anxiety among professional traders. Elevated implied volatility at these levels typically indicates the market is pricing in a meaningful probability of further downside rather than a quick return to prior highs.

On Deribit, bitcoin put options at the $58,000, $60,000, and $62,000 strike prices drew heavy demand as Trump's tariff surprise injected fresh uncertainty. Across all time frames, puts traded at a premium to calls — a configuration known as a negative risk reversal that signals options market participants are collectively positioned for further declines rather than a rebound. This is distinct from simple price-chasing: elevated put premiums reflect genuine hedging demand from holders seeking to protect against deeper drawdowns.

On the cumulative volume delta (CVD) front — the net difference between buyer-initiated and seller-initiated volume — Bitcoin and most major tokens registered negative readings, confirming that sellers were overpowering buyers throughout the session. The sole exceptions were ZEC and CRO, both of which posted positive CVDs, indicating pockets of buyer dominance even as the broader market sold off.

Which Tokens Held Up During the Asia Selloff?

Most of the altcoin market remained in the red on Monday after bitcoin's weakness combined with low overnight liquidity to produce exaggerated moves across the board. The CoinDesk DeFi Select Index (DFX) proved the most resilient benchmark, declining just 1.84% over the prior 24 hours. By contrast, the CoinDesk Smart Contract Platform Select Index lost 3.56% and the CoinDesk Computing Select Index dropped 3.23%.

The altcoin market has largely tracked bitcoin throughout February, but with a liquidity deficit that has amplified swings in both directions. Analysts note that if Bitcoin can establish a durable local floor and push back above $70,000, several altcoins whose order books were thinned out in early February could be positioned for an outsized recovery — provided the macro headwinds from tariff policy stabilize.

Bitcoin Price Outlook: Is the Dip Over?

Bitcoin staged a partial recovery from $64,270 back to $66,300 by 11:00 UTC on February 23, mirroring the rebound in S&P 500 futures. However, that recovery proved incomplete. As detailed in our follow-up coverage, Bitcoin subsequently extended losses below $63,000 on February 24 — meaning the February 23 bounce should be understood as a short-lived stabilization rather than a trend reversal.

Data from Deribit options markets — with puts at a premium to calls across all time frames — suggests the professional trading community is not yet convinced the selling pressure has exhausted itself. Demand for leveraged products remains subdued, with total crypto futures open interest still below $100 billion. Until that figure recovers and CVD data for Bitcoin turns positive, the technical and derivatives picture points to continued caution rather than a confident bottom call.