<h2 id="header-0">Key Facts</h2>
<ul>
 <li>Bitcoin rose to about $77,700 on Tuesday after falling to $76,270 overnight, as futures liquidations shifted from bullish bets to bearish ones.</li>
 <li>Long positions took 79% of Bitcoin's $96.9 million in liquidations over 24 hours, while shorts took 81% in the four hours to noon ET, CoinGlass data show.</li>
 <li>CryptoQuant contributor XWIN Japan set $76,600 to $76,700 as support and $77,400 to $77,600 as the zone a recovery needs to reclaim.</li>
</ul>
Bitcoin (<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/">BTC</a>) climbed back to about $77,700 on Tuesday as <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/glossary/futures">futures</a> liquidations shifted from bullish traders to bearish ones, forcing short sellers to buy back their positions. The price is back at the level a CryptoQuant contributor said a recovery would need to reclaim.
Bitcoin fell to $76,270 overnight, CoinMarketCap data show, and traders betting on gains took most of the forced losses. In the four hours to noon ET, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/glossary/short">short</a> sellers have taken 81% of Bitcoin's <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/glossary/liquidation">liquidations</a>, according to CoinGlass <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.coinglass.com/liquidations">data</a>. CryptoQuant contributor XWIN Japan says a recovery needs that level to hold. The contributor also wants fewer liquidations and steady buying in the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/glossary/spot-market">spot</a> market.
On-chain analytics firm Glassnode said spot buyers held their ground through the sell-off.
“Perpetual sellers drove the drop, yet longs keep paying up in funding and options traders are buying protection, while spot buyers held steady,” Glassnode <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://x.com/glassnode/status/2117286910997450976">wrote</a> on Monday.
<h2 id="header-1">Why Did Bitcoin Fall? Futures Sellers and Forced Long Closures</h2>
The slide began last week, when Bitcoin tested a long-term moving average that Galaxy Research watches, the desk <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/article/bitcoin-price-tests-galaxy-tripwire-76k">reported</a>. A rebound to about $78,700 faded on Monday, with selling starting before Wall Street opened, XWIN Japan noted.
The slide resumed overnight as US tech stocks fell, the contributor wrote. Long positions accounted for 79% of Bitcoin liquidations over the past 24 hours, CoinGlass data show. The selling also came as spot ETFs and stablecoin supply shrank, the desk <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/article/stablecoin-supply-falls-bitcoin-etf-outflows-1b">reported</a> earlier on Tuesday.
“Some spot buying persists, but it has not absorbed futures selling and liquidations,” XWIN Japan <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://cryptoquant.com/insights/quicktake/6ae909e9d730cb7df44bd363-Bitcoins-Rebound-Fades-Weak-Demand-and-Long-Liquidations-Push-BTC-to-76800">wrote</a> on Monday.
<h2 id="header-2">What Changed Today? Liquidations Shifted to Short Sellers</h2>
The pattern reversed as the price recovered on Tuesday morning. Short positions accounted for most Bitcoin liquidations over the last few hours.
Open <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/glossary/open-interest">interest</a>, the value of outstanding futures contracts, fell about 1.5% in the 24 hours to late Tuesday morning across exchanges, CoinGlass <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.coinglass.com/open-interest/BTC">data</a> show. Bitcoin funding rates on Hyperliquid stayed positive through the drop, so holders of long positions kept paying to keep them open.
The desk <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/article/bitcoin-traders-pay-up-for-downside-protection-before-the-midterms">reported</a> on Monday that options traders were paying extra for downside protection before the vote.<tweet-embed url="https://x.com/coinglass_com/status/2117578244077862964"></tweet-embed>
<h2 id="header-3">Who Is in Control? Futures Buyers and Sellers Are Balanced</h2>
The futures market has yet to pick a side. CryptoQuant contributor BaykusCharts <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://cryptoquant.com/insights/quicktake/6ae9e548d730cb7df44be878-No-One-Is-in-the-Drivers-Seat">wrote</a> that neither buyers nor sellers are acting aggressively. His reading comes from the firm's 90-day measure of market orders in futures.
CryptoQuant's chart marks buyer-led periods in green and seller-led periods in red. Major rallies in late 2023, late 2024 and summer 2025 came in green phases. The 2024 and 2025 tops arrived in red. The pattern has exceptions, including a green phase this spring that failed to hold.
CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju also wrote that the midterms were the year's last big source of uncertainty for short-term investors.<tweet-embed url="https://x.com/ki_young_ju/status/2117563179429417418"></tweet-embed>
<h2 id="header-4">What Level Matters? $76,600 Support, Then $77,600 to Hold</h2>
XWIN Japan named $76,600 to $76,700 as support. A recovery needs to reclaim $77,100 to $77,200 and then $77,400 to $77,600, alongside easing liquidations and sustained spot buying, the contributor wrote.
Bitcoin traded near $77,700 at midday, CoinMarketCap data show.<img src="https://academy-public.coinmarketcap.com/optimized-uploads/e8c0477d37cc4bdbad772af6a258ae90.png">
Bitcoin's price over the past week, including Tuesday's overnight low near $76,300. Source: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/">CoinMarketCap</a>
Bitcoin is holding near the top of that range heading into the first election results.
“A shift to green would signal that the rally is once again being supported by futures buying. A shift to red would mean sellers are taking the initiative,” BaykusCharts wrote on Tuesday.
Further Reading: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/article/stablecoin-supply-falls-bitcoin-etf-outflows-1b">Stablecoin Supply Hits 13-Month Low as Bitcoin ETFs Lose $1B</a>

Bitcoin Reclaims $77.5K as Futures Liquidations Shift to Shorts

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