BTC Drops Below $65K as $990M in Open Interest Vanishes in 2 Hours

2026-02-23 06:45:36

⬤ The derivatives market told a stark story. Open interest in Bitcoin futures and perpetuals fell to roughly $19.5 billion, well below the peaks seen earlier in 2026. Around $990 million in BTC open interest was wiped out in that two-hour window alone. The breakdown of the $65K support triggered a wave of stop orders and forced liquidations, particularly flushing out leveraged long positions that had built up during the rally. The BTC Price Analysis showing the $68K rejection and falling wedge had already flagged growing technical pressure ahead of this move.

Despite the late-night timing when social volume is typically subdued, bearish commentary and fear-related metrics climbed sharply.

⬤ The sentiment shift was hard to ignore. Even with lower-than-usual social volume, fear and bearish commentary spread quickly once the $65K floor gave way. This kind of crowd psychology feedback loop tends to exaggerate short-term moves, turning a technical break into a broader emotional selloff as traders react to each other’s reactions rather than the fundamentals.

⬤ Put it all together and the picture is a meaningful repricing of risk: a broken support level, a derivatives market rapidly unwinding, and a sentiment gauge turning bearish fast. Looking ahead, the BTC Price Prediction placing the $86K–$115K zone as key in the corrective setup offers some longer-term context, but in the near term, how Bitcoin behaves around these technical levels will likely dictate whether this is a reset or the start of something deeper.

BTC-4,21%

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