Bitcoin Defends $62,000 Support as $171M Liquidation Wave Hits, June 26 Options Expiry Looms

According to Coinglass, Bitcoin fell 3.6% to an intraday low of $61,860 on June 22, triggering $171 million in total crypto liquidations and forcing 11,202 traders out of positions. Long bets accounted for $158 million of the losses, with the largest single liquidation valued at $7.06 million. Bitcoin subsequently rebounded to trade just under $62,300 as of early trading, finding support above the $62,000 level after dipping from $64,500 earlier in the day. The crypto market's aggregate capitalization declined nearly 3%, with Bitcoin's total market cap falling to $1.25 trillion from Monday's peak of $1.3 trillion.

Mike McCluskey, co-founder of Tx, flagged an upcoming $10.6 billion options expiry on Deribit on June 26, with roughly 80% of open interest currently out of the money. He cited a record $6 billion net outflow from spot Bitcoin ETFs over the past 30 days as evidence of institutional de-risking, warning that the $60,000 mark represents a critical technical and psychological threshold likely to face further testing.