Bitcoin Crashes to $64,258 as Weekend Sell-Off Triggers $434M in Liquidations

The weekend destroyed whatever fragile optimism Friday’s SCOTUS ruling had generated. Bitcoin’s 4.5% slide in two hours on Sunday afternoon — from $67K to $64.2K — was the sharpest intraday move since the Feb 5 crash. The liquidation cascade hit $433.65 million, overwhelmingly longs, as the market punished traders who had positioned for a post-tariff-ruling recovery. Open interest collapsed to $19.5 billion, barely half its 2026 peak.

The sell-side catalysts were precise and brutal. Bitdeer’s decision to liquidate its entire 943-BTC treasury to zero is unprecedented for a public mining company and signals that at least one miner has lost confidence in holding BTC at current prices. Vitalik Buterin’s accelerating ETH sales ($3.67M in two days) — regardless of stated charitable intent — add to the optics of insiders reducing exposure. The combination triggered panic among retail holders, with negative sentiment surging to a two-week high.

The broader picture is deteriorating. Since Trump’s inauguration, total crypto market cap has dropped $1.3 trillion. Binance spot trading volumes have reportedly plunged 95%. Four consecutive weeks of institutional outflows totaling $3.8 billion confirm that the “institutional era” narrative has reversed. Short-term BTC whales are sitting on ~$26 billion in unrealized losses. The average ETF investor is now 20% underwater, creating a fragile base vulnerable to capitulation selling.

The one contrarian datapoint: VanEck‘s analysis places the Feb 21 Sharpe ratio reading (−38.38) among the most extreme in crypto history. Their research shows that events of this crash velocity historically exhaust panic rather than initiate prolonged cascades — but only when not accompanied by systemic failure. Arthur Hayes’s public portfolio reveal (BTC, ETH, ZEC, HYPE + physical gold + commodity stocks) signals that sophisticated macro traders remain positioned, even as retail capitulates.

BTC/USD — Daily (TradingView, Feb 23 07:43 UTC, Bitstamp): O: 67,612 / H: 67,654 / L: 64,258 / C: 65,920 (−1,692, −2.50%). A large red candle that opened near the prior close and collapsed through $66K and $65K support to print $64,258 before recovering. The close at $65,920 sits near the lower Bollinger Band ($64,063), signaling extreme downside extension.

Ichimoku remains deeply bearish. Price at 65,920 sits far below the Tenkan-sen (71,085), Kijun-sen (74,572), and the entire cloud (78,935–80,791). The gap between price and the Tenkan has widened from ~$3,900 on Friday to ~$5,200 today — increasing the distance that any recovery must travel. The 200-SMA at 98,671 is 49.7% above spot, the widest disconnect of this cycle.

The MACD bullish crossover from last week is under threat. The histogram at +582 has declined from +599, and while the MACD line (−3,730) remains above the signal (−4,312), another red session would likely collapse the crossover signal entirely. This is the critical juncture: a failed crossover after a multi-week base attempt is one of the most bearish technical configurations, as it signals a lower low is being set while momentum was trying to turn.

RSI at 34.63 (signal 33.73) is approaching the 30 oversold threshold but has not yet breached it. The Feb 5–6 crash took RSI to sub-25 territory. A breach of 30 would confirm oversold conditions and increase the probability of a mean-reversion bounce. The BB lower band at $64,063 sits just $100 below today’s intraday low, confirming price has reached the statistical extreme of the range. A head-and-shoulders pattern on the 8-hour chart with hidden bearish divergence between Feb 6 and Feb 20 projects a measured move target to the $56,000–$60,000 zone if $64K fails.

$64K is the line — MACD crossover survival: The bullish crossover at +582 is barely alive. A close below $64,000 would likely collapse it, triggering the most bearish technical signal since December: a failed crossover attempt. This opens the H&S measured move target of $56K–$60K. A hold above $64K preserves the base thesis.

$317M token unlocks this week: Major unlocks for SUI, JUP, GRASS, EIGEN and others add supply pressure to a thin market. With Binance spot volumes reportedly down 95% from peak, even modest sell orders can create outsized price impact.

ETHDenver (Feb 23–28) + CLARITY Act: ETHDenver kicks off today as the world’s largest Ethereum builder conference. Any L2 scaling or DeFi announcements could provide a catalyst for ETH specifically. The CLARITY Act targeting Q1 passage would classify BTC as a “digital commodity” under CFTC — potentially the largest institutional unlock since ETFs.

Nvidia earnings Wednesday: The AI bellwether reports this week. A strong report could lift risk appetite broadly; a miss would compound the sell-off. With the Nasdaq already sensitive to macro data, equity momentum is the variable most likely to stabilize crypto sentiment in the short term.