Bitcoin dropped below $80,000 on Saturday, October 24, 2026, and leveraged traders took the hit. Crypto liquidations over 24 hours reached $815.26 million, according to CoinGlass data reported by The Block, with long positions accounting for most of the losses. Here is what happened during the BTC price drop, why liquidations affect leveraged traders rather than spot holders, and the options spot BTC holders have now.
What happened on October 24
According to The Block, citing its Bitcoin Price page, bitcoin fell to about $79,280 around 11:20 a.m. ET before climbing back to $80,138 by 1 p.m. ET. CoinDesk reported earlier in the day that bitcoin was down 2.2% over 24 hours at $79,700, its weakest level in more than a month, with ether, XRP and solana down in the 3% to 4% range.
The liquidation numbers, all from CoinGlass data reported by The Block:
- $815.26 million liquidated over 24 hours, up 218% from the previous day, with 201,012 traders hit
- $436.44 million liquidated in the four hours to 1 p.m. ET, of which $404.15 million were longs
- Within that four-hour window, ether liquidations reached $136.72 million against $158.45 million for bitcoin, even though ether's market capitalization is only about 18% of bitcoin's
ETF outflows and Arthur Hayes
The drop followed two days of outflows from US spot bitcoin ETFs. The Block, analysing SoSoValue data, reported $635.49 million in net outflows on Thursday and $137.94 million on Friday. The funds had taken in $1.078 billion from Monday through Wednesday, leaving the week with net inflows of $304.73 million.
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes also drew attention. The Block reported that he closed out the directional book at Maelstrom, his family office, writing on X: "I dumped it all." He added: "It looks a bit dicey out there in macro and geopolitical land," and said he would "sit on the sidelines and wait for the all clear signal." The Block noted that Hayes did not say which geopolitical risks he meant.
The geopolitical backdrop
CoinDesk linked the weekend pressure to reports from the Middle East. Citing The Wall Street Journal, CoinDesk reported that the US is evacuating personnel from embassies and military bases across the region as intelligence suggests Iran is preparing attacks against Americans. Separately, The Block cited the Associated Press as reporting that the State Department is reducing staff at US embassies in Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Neither source says this was the only cause of the drop, and price moves usually have several drivers.
You can check the live BTC rate (https://aviorswap.com/markets) to follow the market as it develops.
Why liquidations hit leveraged traders, not spot holders
A liquidation happens when an exchange closes a leveraged position because the trader's margin can no longer cover the losses. That is how The Block describes it, and it is the mechanism behind the $815 million figure. It applies to futures and other borrowed positions.
If you own BTC outright, on spot, in your own wallet or in an exchange balance without borrowing, there is nothing to liquidate. Your BTC can lose value in a drop, but nobody closes your position for you. Liquidation waves can still move the price quickly, because forced selling of leveraged longs adds to selling pressure, so spot holders still experience the volatility even though they are not liquidated.
What spot holders can do
There is no single correct response, and this article does not recommend one. Broadly, spot holders tend to choose between three options. Each has trade-offs that depend on personal goals, time horizon and risk tolerance.
- Hold. Keep your BTC as it is. Your exposure to bitcoin's price, both up and down, stays the same. People who choose this often have a longer time horizon or a plan they set before the volatility
- Move part into USDT. Swap a portion of BTC into a dollar-pegged stablecoin such as USDT. That part of your holdings stops moving with bitcoin's price, in both directions. If you go this way, decide where you will use the USDT first, because that determines which USDT network to choose (https://aviorswap.com/blog/how-to-swap-crypto-to-usdt-erc20-or-solana)
- Do nothing for now. Take no action while the picture clears. This is different from a deliberate decision to hold: it simply means not reacting to a single day's move
Whichever option you consider, a few neutral checks help: know whether any of your positions use leverage, know where your coins are held, and avoid making decisions based on one headline.
If you decide to move part of your BTC into a stablecoin, here's how to swap Bitcoin to USDT on Solana (https://aviorswap.com/blog/btc-to-usdt-solana-how-to-swap).
This article is for information only and is not investment, financial or tax advice. It does not recommend buying, selling or holding any asset. Crypto prices are volatile, and figures quoted here reflect the sources at the time of reporting.
Sources: The Block (October 24, 2026, citing CoinGlass, SoSoValue and the Associated Press), CoinDesk (October 24, 2026, citing The Wall Street Journal).