Why Bitcoin Fell $4K in Hours and What Comes Next

BTC’s price tumbled in hours to a 17-day low as analyst outlined the next key support levels.

It almost felt inevitable after the latest developments on Trump’s tariff front that bitcoin’s price would eventually head south after a relatively calm weekend.

Recall that the US Supreme Court ruled that many of the POTUS’s tariffs imposed in the past year were illegal, determining that he should have been unable to use the IEEPA (a 1977 emergency law) to levy taxes on imports from almost all countries.

Aside from calling the Court’s decision a “disgrace,” President Trump announced a 10% temporary global tariff under Section 122 – a law that was never used before. A day later, he ramped up this taxation to 15%.

As it happened several weeks ago during the most intense verbal battle for Greenland, the impact on bitcoin wasn’t immediate. At the time, the tariff threats between the US and the EU took place mostly during the weekend, and BTC stood still.

However, once the legacy futures markets opened on Sunday afternoon, bitcoin slumped by several grand within an hour or so. This scenario repeated on February 22/23 when the cryptocurrency plunged from $67,800 to a 17-day low of $64,350 (on Bitstamp). It found some support there and now sits close to $66,000.

If there’s another substantial leg down, BTC’s next key support levels could be at $58,500, $54,440, and $41,500, according to Ali Martinez, who cited the BTC holder cost basis.

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The altcoins followed suit, with many dropping by over 5% within the same timeframe. The total value of liquidated positions has jumped to almost $500 million on CoinGlass. Longs are responsible for rouhgly 90% of that amount.

Santiment also weighed in on BTC’s latest crash, indicating that the open interest has dropped to just $19.5 billion after the latest liquidation cascade, which is “under half of the 2026 peak of $38.3 billion back on January 14.”

The analytics company added that the social media FUD among retail investors has “quickly gone into FUD mode, which can historically help propel a quick rebound.”