Q2 was brutal for leveraged crypto traders. $8.35 billion in long liquidations across Bitcoin and Ether. The cleanup left markets looking healthier heading into Q3. But there’s a catch.
According to institutional data provider Talos, the deleveraging coincided with Bitcoin ETF outflows, reduced buying from Strategy, and a shrinking stablecoin supply. All that means less liquidity now. Bitcoin’s 2% order-book depth dropped from roughly $70 million in early May to between $35 and $40 million by late June.
Translation: the market might be less vulnerable to cascade liquidations. But prices can still swing hard because there’s less trading activity to absorb big orders.
Bitcoin was trading around $58,656 Wednesday after briefly dipping to $57,742 — its lowest since September 2024. Open interest fell 32% from Q2’s peak to $33.5 billion for Bitcoin. Ether’s open interest dropped 40% to $16.2 billion.
The demand picture isn’t great either. US spot Bitcoin ETFs saw $4.5 billion in outflows in June alone. Strategy bought only 3,600 BTC in June, down from about 25,000 in May and 50,000 in April. The company even recorded a net sale of 32 BTC, a first. They ended the month holding 847,363 BTC at an average price of $64,103.
Spot exchange volume dropped 28% quarter-over-quarter to $2.32 trillion.
So the market’s cleaner. But emptier too. Worth watching how the next big sell order hits that thinner order book.
