Crypto suffered another violent selloff overnight, which sent Bitcoin below $74,000 and pushing several major altcoins to fresh multi-month lows.

Bitcoin briefly fell to around $73,700, its lowest level since August. Ethereum dropped toward $2,120-$2,220, XRP broke below $1.10 during the worst part of the move, and Solana slipped under $90.

The speed of the decline was particularly damaging.

More than $1 billion in leveraged crypto positions were liquidated over 24 hours, with about $913 million coming from traders positioned long. CoinDesk reported that much of the damage occurred within roughly six hours.

A widely circulated claim put $1 billion of liquidations inside 10 minutes, but broader derivatives data supports the $1 billion-plus figure over a longer window, not necessarily that exact 10-minute period.

What you'll learn 👉

Political and Regulatory Risk Is Back

Crypto sentiment was already weak before the latest liquidation wave.

Reuters reported that traders are increasingly concerned a Democratic-controlled U.S. Congress could take a tougher approach toward digital-asset regulation following the midterm elections. The market was also still dealing with the fallout from the recent Binance hack.

Another source of uncertainty came from Washington.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, the incoming Chair of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, issued new demands for cooperation from several companies involved in ongoing investigations.

Binance and Tether were specifically named in an inquiry involving alleged illicit crypto flows and possible conflicts involving the Trump administration and crypto firms. The companies were told to provide requested records by January 4, 2027, or the committee could pursue other measures.

This does not mean Binance or Tether have suddenly been accused of a new crime.

But after the Binance security breach and weeks of fragile market confidence, another regulatory headline involving two of crypto’s largest institutions was enough to add more risk.

Read also: Analyst Says Bitcoin’s Bear Market Has Only a Few Months Left

Iran Headlines Added Another Layer of Volatility

Geopolitics also entered the picture.

CoinDesk linked part of the overnight volatility to uncertainty around U.S.-Iran negotiations, alongside the latest turmoil around Nvidia and technology stocks.

Social media quickly connected the crypto drop with reports that Iran talks had stalled.

That explanation needs some caution.

By Monday morning, oil-market reporting was already pointing toward renewed optimism around negotiations, showing just how quickly the situation was changing. The Iran story therefore looks more like an additional volatility trigger than the sole reason crypto collapsed.

Liquidations Turned Weakness Into a Crash

The most immediate reason prices moved so violently was leverage.

Around $1,000,000,000 in crypto positions were liquidated in just one hour during the Sunday-night drop, with more than 90% coming from longs. Bitcoin quickly moved below $74,000 as leveraged bullish positions were forced out.

BREAKING: $1,000,000,000 liquidated from the crypto market in the past 10 minutes. $BTC falls under $74,000 $ETH falls under $2,125 $XRP falls under $1.10 $SOL falls under $90 https://t.co/hIZhzQFJJe

This creates a feedback loop.

Price falls, leveraged longs hit their liquidation levels, exchanges automatically sell those positions, and the additional selling pushes price low enough to liquidate another group of traders.

That helps explain why Bitcoin, ETH, XRP and SOL all broke important levels almost simultaneously.

Bitcoin Is Now Testing a Critical Area

Bitcoin has recovered somewhat from the $73,700 low, but the technical picture remains fragile.

One important level is the 200-day moving average near $73,170. Bitcoin has not recorded a daily close beneath that average since August 19.

The institutional backdrop is also weak.

BlackRock’s IBIT has recorded five consecutive trading days of outflows totaling approximately $1.21 billion, adding another source of selling pressure.

If Bitcoin can continue defending roughly $73,000-$74,000, another relief bounce remains possible.

A decisive break below that area would make the current correction considerably more dangerous.

For now, this crash looks less like one catastrophic crypto event and more like several risks converging at exactly the wrong moment: regulatory anxiety, geopolitical uncertainty, weak institutional flows and a market overloaded with bullish leverage.

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