Crypto longs lose $500 million as bitcoin slides to $78,000, SOL and XRP down 5%

Crypto bulls betting on higher prices nursed over $500 million in losses as bitcoin slipped to near $78,00 in Asian morning hours Saturday.

BTC was down 3.2% over 24 hours, per CoinDesk data, reversing all gains from the past seven days where the asset briefly traded above $82,000.

Solana (SOL) dropped 5% to $86.98 and is now down 7% over the past seven days. XRP slid 4.3% to $1.41. Ether (ETH) lost 3.3% to $2,189, with its weekly decline widening to 5.3%, the worst among the majors. BNB held up better, down 3.9% on the day but still up 1.1% over the past seven days. Dogecoin slipped 4.2% to $0.1095.

CoinGlass data showed $581 million in total liquidations over 24 hours with $552 million of that wiped from long positions and just $28 million from shorts. BTC liquidations led at $189 million, followed by ETH at $151 million. The largest single liquidation order was a $21.59 million BTCUSDT position on Bitget.

A 95% long-skew on a $581 million flush is what happens when leverage has been built up on one side of the trade and the move catches everyone the same way.

The drop came as the S&P 500 fell 1.2% in its worst session since March, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropping 4% after weeks of leading the equity rally. U.S. 10-year Treasury yields topped 4.5%, Japan's 30-year debt hit 4% for the first time, and U.K. long-bond rates touched a 28-year high. The dollar extended its weekly gain. Brent crude settled above $105.

The throughline is inflation.

Back-to-back hot CPI and PPI prints earlier in the week, combined with elevated oil prices tied to the ongoing Iran conflict and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, have pushed traders to bet the Federal Reserve will hike rather than cut.

Crypto, which had been pricing in liquidity easing through 2026, is now repricing the opposite scenario.