Tech Selloff Drains $717M in Crypto Leverage, Bitcoin at $62K

Bitcoin slid to $62,300 Tuesday as a tech-led selloff on Wall Street bled into crypto markets, triggering $717 million in forced liquidations across altcoin positions. The move followed a broad decline in US equities, with NASDAQ 100 futures pointing to a 1.3%–2.5% drop at the open, traders said.

The selloff traced back to profit-taking in AI-related stocks – Nvidia and Micron led the retreat – and the selling spilled into AI-themed crypto tokens. FET and RENDER each lost about 4%; TAO dropped 3%, according to CoinGecko data.

The $717 million in aggregate altcoin liquidations marked one of the biggest single-day forced-exit events this year, data from CoinGlass showed. Most of the damage hit longs – traders betting on higher prices – who were caught offside as the tech rout accelerated.

A handful of privacy-focused coins bucked the trend. DASH and XMR each fell less than 1%, while Solana lost 3.4% and Dogecoin shed 6.6% over the week.

The dollar index climbed to multi-month highs during the session, adding another headwind for risk assets. A stronger dollar historically correlates with weaker crypto prices, several traders noted.

Bitcoin's drop to near $62,000 puts it close to a level that has held twice this month. A break below would open a run to $58,000, traders said. The next catalyst on the calendar is the weekly jobless claims report Thursday and the Fed's preferred inflation gauge Friday.