Bitcoin Falls After Brief Surge to $81,500 Amid Heavy Sell Walls

Bitcoin rallied to $81,500 on Thursday evening but quickly lost momentum, dropping below $79,300 and later testing $77,000. The pullback followed the Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s Jackson Hole speech, which rejected forward guidance on inflation.

Price Action and Liquidations

The cryptocurrency peaked at $81,455 around 9:30 p.m. EDT, then fell to a session low of $78,442 by 10:15 a.m. The next hour saw a further dip to $76,877 before recovering to $77,000. The reversal erased most of the week’s 2 % gain and reduced market capitalization to roughly $1.58 trillion.

Derivatives data showed $107 million in liquidations across long and short positions within 24 hours, with $50 million in longs and $57 million in shorts wiped out. Overall crypto leveraged positions lost about $300 million.

Order‑Book Imbalance

Liquidity analysis indicated a strong downward skew: approximately $5.7 billion of liquidity sits between $75,000 and $78,500, while only about $2.8 billion is positioned above $81,500. Large sell walls are clustered at $80,800–$83,000, whereas significant buy orders remain around $78,000–$79,000.

Market Sentiment

Open interest has risen, futures traders are adding exposure, and the Coinbase Premium turned positive. However, spot demand appears to be weakening, suggesting leverage is returning faster than organic buying.

Fed Chair Remarks

Warsh emphasized a return to traditional monetary policy, citing persistent inflation risks and a need to adjust rates as conditions evolve. He noted geopolitical tensions and higher crude prices as headwinds, while highlighting strong corporate spending on technology and AI.