Crypto markets endured another sharp bout of deleveraging, with liquidations surpassing $1 billion over the past 24 hours and erasing nearly $980 million in bullish leveraged positions.

Bitcoin slipped below $68,000 during U.S. morning trade on Thursday, extending a week-long decline that has mirrored weakness across global risk assets. The drop followed an earlier move under $70,000, a level widely viewed by traders as pivotal for short-term price stability.

Market depth data points to limited downside buffers. Coinglass liquidity heatmaps show order density thinning rapidly beneath the $70,000 mark, with only modest pockets of liquidity further down. This setup raises the risk of an accelerated move into the high $60,000s, as fewer liquidation-triggered buy orders remain to slow the decline once support levels give way.

Liquidation heatmaps identify price zones where leveraged traders are most vulnerable to forced exits. Bright clusters often act as short-term price magnets, helping traders pinpoint crowded positioning and potential volatility rather than precise reversal points.

Broader macro forces have compounded crypto’s losses. A renewed sell-off in silver and continued deleveraging across macro trades have reinforced a risk-off environment, with digital assets increasingly trading in step with other liquidity-sensitive assets.

Focus is now shifting toward lower potential support levels. The $60,000 area has emerged as a zone of interest for some market participants. As previously reported by CoinDesk, bitcoin’s 200-week moving average — which has historically marked cycle lows — currently sits near $57,926.

Sentiment measures are echoing the caution. On Polymarket, contracts linked to bitcoin’s 2026 price outcomes now lean toward lower levels, with traders assigning the highest probability to prices at or below $65,000. Expectations for six-figure bitcoin prices have faded sharply since January, while the likelihood of a pullback into the mid-$50,000s has increased.

Flow data supports the defensive tone. U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs have posted net outflows this week, and trading activity in perpetual futures has thinned as traders continue to reduce leverage.

Even so, some traders continue to view the $68,000–$70,000 range as a key technical zone, pointing to heavy historical trading activity and long-term holder cost bases clustered in that region. A sustained break below that area, however, could open the door to a deeper consolidation phase, consistent with past post-rally pullbacks.