Bitcoin steadied after a sharp dip, trading back above $77,000 on Friday following a volatile stretch that was worsened by a major security incident tied to Binance and a broader sell-off in US technology stocks. The rebound comes as crypto liquidations topped $1.5 billion over the past 24 hours, with most forced closures concentrated in long positions.
Data also points to improving momentum signals on shorter timeframes, though the market remains sensitive to risk-off pressure from equities and to any further details from the exchange incident currently under review.
Key takeaways
- Bitcoin fell to $76,320 amid market digestion of Binanceโs reported $6.3 billion hack-related fallout.
- Rolling 24-hour liquidations reached $1.56 billion, with long liquidations accounting for $1.31 billion of the total, according to CoinGlass.
- US tech stocks extended losses after weaker-than-expected earnings outlook, adding to macro jitters for risk assets.
- Technical indicators show BTC building a bullish RSI divergence on the four-hour chart, suggesting seller pressure may be easing below $77,000.
Binance hack drives a liquidation-heavy shakeout
Market pressure intensified after TradingView data showed BTC/USD sliding as low as $76,320 during the digestion of developments linked to a reported $6.3 billion hack involving Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume. As traders re-priced exposure and liquidity tightened, forced selling accelerated.
According to CoinGlass liquidation data, rolling 24-hour liquidations across the crypto market totaled $1.56 billion. Long positions were the dominant side, with $1.31 billion worth of longs liquidatedโan imbalance that often reflects how declines can cascade when leverage is concentrated on the buy side.
Binance, in an update shared on X, characterized the incident as โcomplex,โ describing it as involving more than a single security breach. The exchange said it was still gathering facts and would provide additional detail as it becomes available.
โWe are still gathering the facts, and will share more directly as we have them,โ Binance wrote on X.
Importantly for market confidence, Binance stated that all user losses would be covered using its dedicated SAFU fund and other company resources. That assurance appeared to help slow the downward momentum after the initial shock, even as traders continued to react to the broader implications of the hack narrative.
Risk-off in equities adds to crypto volatility
The exchange incident landed on top of weaker sentiment in US markets. Crypto has frequently traded as a high-beta risk asset during equity drawdowns, and Thursdayโs session ended with pressure on technology stocks following disappointing earnings and forward-looking signals.
Alphabet shares dropped sharply, falling 13% to around $282, reported as its lowest level since April, after the company missed earnings and revenue targets.
Intel was another major contributor to the tech-led drag. Shares were down 26% in premarket trading Friday following a forecast that the market considered weaker than expected, even though Q3 results reportedly beat estimates. Intelโs guidance included expected Q4 sales of $15 billion to $16 billion, compared with analystsโ projections of $17 billion to $18 billion.
While these moves are not directly tied to crypto infrastructure, the combined effect is similar: investors often reduce exposure to volatile assets when macro risk perception deteriorates, which can amplify sell-offs in digital assets during periods of exchange-specific uncertainty.
BTC tests โmean reversionโ signals at local lows
Beyond macro and headline risk, BTCโs technical picture suggested the sell-off may have started to lose momentum near recent support areas. On lower timeframes, the price action returned to levels not seen since BTC/USD moved toward multiyear lows near $57,000 in late June.
In volatility terms, BTC closed below the lower band of the Bollinger Bands indicator on Thursdayโan event last seen on June 25, according to the charting data referenced in the report. That kind of move can suggest price is trading more than two standard deviations below the 20-day simple moving average (SMA), where a pull back toward the mean becomes more likely. At the time cited, the 20-day SMA sat near $81,324.
Momentum indicators were also approaching โoversoldโ conditions. The relative strength index (RSI) dropped to 34.7 on the 100-point scale on Friday, its lowest reading since June 30 and edging closer to the oversold threshold below 30.
More notably for traders watching for stabilization, RSI on the four-hour timeframe showed a bullish divergence. The indicator printed a higher swing low while BTC formed a lower low on priceโan alignment that can signal weakening seller control and a potential shift in short-term trend dynamics.
What to watch next for traders and investors
Bitcoinโs recovery above $77,000 appears to reflect a combination of reduced immediate selling pressure after Binanceโs coverage assurance and a short-term technical turn suggested by four-hour RSI divergence. Still, the market will likely remain fragile until more details emerge about the incidentโs scope and until equity volatility cools. Traders should monitor whether liquidations stay contained and whether BTC can hold recent lows while momentum indicators stabilize.
