Speculations Point to a Diminishing ETF Narrative and United States Economic Data as Potential Triggers for the Abrupt Crypto Bitcoin Sell-Off.

Bitcoin (BTC) took a sharp downturn, plummeting to $67,628 amid a tumultuous day that witnessed over $661 million in crypto liquidations within the past 24 hours, affecting nearly 200,000 traders.

During early trading on March 15, Bitcoin experienced a 7.5% decline in just a few hours, dropping from $72,000 to $66,500. Although the asset briefly rebounded to surpass the $68,000 mark, it faced rejection and continued to decline, settling around $67,500 at the time of reporting, marking an 8.3% decrease from its all-time high of $73,737 on March 14, according to Tradingview data.

The majority of liquidations, about 80%, were long positions, resulting in $525.2 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours, while short position liquidations amounted to $136.5 million.

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The crypto market capitalization saw a 7.3% decline to reach $2.68 trillion, with approximately $175 billion exiting the space.

Greeks Live, a crypto derivatives tooling provider, noted a recent shift in market tempo on March 14, suggesting a potential change in the narrative surrounding ETF inflows.

Pav Hundal, lead analyst at Australian crypto exchange Swyftx, expressed concerns about a possible correction into the low $60,000 or high $50,000 range if ETF volumes continue to decline. He highlighted that Bitcoin ETF inflow volumes were down 48% compared to their 14-day average on March 14.

Aggregate spot Bitcoin ETF inflows stood at just $133 million on March 14, the lowest for the month, according to data from Farside Investors.

Noting the current drop, crypto trader and analyst “CrediBULL Crypto” predicted further decline, suggesting Bitcoin could fall to around $63,000 to $64,000.

The release of economic data in the United States this week possibly accelerated the declines, with Producer Price Index (PPI) data exceeding expectations, leading to projections of prolonged high rates from the Federal Reserve. Additionally, hotter-than-expected Consumer Price Index (CPI) data earlier in the week aggravated America’s economic concerns.

Stock markets in Asia also retreated on Friday following disappointing U.S. economic data, dashing hopes for lower interest rates in the near future.