Bitcoin extended losses on Tuesday, hitting a two-week low in early U.S. trading and dragging broader digital assets into the red.
The total crypto market value eased about 0.5% to roughly $3.97 trillion, a modest decline that belies the still-fragile tone after last weekend’s violent unwinding of leverage.
Market participants in Canada moved largely in step with U.S. peers, with prices on Canadian venues and Toronto-listed crypto funds tracking the latest leg lower.
More than $19 billion in crypto derivatives positions were liquidated in a single day, the largest wipeout on record according to CoinGlass, an episode that flushed out leverage and left spot markets prone to air pockets and sharp gaps.
That deleveraging continued to shape intraday price action on Tuesday as traders stayed defensive and liquidity remained thin in some altcoin pairs.
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Flows have also turned against risk. In the United States, spot crypto ETFs swung to net outflows to start the week, with combined redemptions across bitcoin and ether products on Monday underscoring the shift to caution after the crash.
The recent pattern follows a record-setting summer for inflows into U.S. spot products and a run to all-time highs for bitcoin earlier this month, but Monday’s prints show sentiment has cooled at least for now.
Canadian trading has mirrored those dynamics rather than offsetting them. Prices on Canadian-dollar pairs followed the global tape, while Toronto-listed funds that hold bitcoin directly slipped alongside spot.
Purpose Investments’ flagship bitcoin ETF fell late last week as the selloff intensified, and intraday moves Tuesday tracked declines on major U.S. exchanges.
With much of the country’s retail participation funneled through registered platforms and ETFs, the cross-border correlation remains tight when leverage resets and futures basis compresses.
The latest retreat also caps an unusually volatile two weeks for digital assets. Coming into October, bitcoin had surged to record territory with help from persistent ETF demand and high-profile corporate buying.
In early September, we reported that Strategy expands bitcoin trove, continuing a corporate-treasury trend that has magnified upswings and drawdowns alike.
Stablecoin reserves added a separate source of support; earlier this fall, Tether quietly grabs 8,888 bitcoin, a reminder that whale wallets can amplify momentum in both directions once prices start to break.
Even with Tuesday’s softness, crypto remains well above midyear levels, and structural pillars that carried the rally are still in place. The listing pipeline and market infrastructure have deepened since summer.
The public-markets story has advanced as well, with Gemini goes public on Nasdaq and other developments that seek to broaden investor access.
Those changes have helped shorten the lifespan of typical risk-off spells, though they have not eliminated the market’s reflexive swings when leverage builds.
On the downside, last weekend’s trough near 105,000 remains the first line of support, followed by round-number levels that coincide with the 200-day moving average on some chart frameworks.
On the upside, reclaiming the 120,000 to 123,000 zone would help repair sentiment after failed bounces earlier this week.
Altcoins are set to stay more volatile than bitcoin given their thinner order books, a pattern we highlighted during September’s run-up as the altcoin rally heats up.
Volatility clusters after large liquidation events, ETFs can transmit risk quickly in both directions, and spreads can widen when depth evaporates.
That combination argues for sizing discipline and an awareness that conditions may shift again around macro headlines.
If ETF outflows stabilize and funding rates reset, the market can rebuild a base. If not, the past week offered a clear reminder of how quickly crowded positioning can unwind.
