Bitcoin whales are dumping massive amounts of supply on exchanges as liquidations mirror the 2022 FTX market collapse

Bitcoin experienced a steep decline over the last 24 hours, pushing its price to approximately $60,000 amid an accelerated selloff comparable to the 2022 FTX collapse. BTC had recovered to $69,800 as of press time, according to CryptoSlate data. Still, Glassnode data helped frame the extent to which the price had slipped relative to widely watched on-chain reference points. With the spot price plunging, the key on-chain price models were far higher, including the STH cost basis at $94,000, the Active Investors Mean at $86,800, and the True Market Mean at $80,100. Bitcoin Realized Price (Source: Glassnode) Meanwhile, the flagship digital asset's realized price sat at $55,600. In light of this, the price move prompted traders to search for a single “smoking gun,” even as the available evidence pointed to a more mechanical unwind. X fills the gap with theories, but little evidence As Bitcoin prices fell rapidly, social media became a clearinghouse for speculation, with narratives moving almost as fast as the price. Traders on X floated multiple explanations for the slide, including rumors of a hidden Hong Kong hedge fund blowup, yen-funding stress, and even quantum security fears. Related Reading Can Google’s 13,000× “quantum echoes” put Bitcoin’s keys on a clock? Google’s Willow chip earned verifiable quantum advantage this week; here’s what that does, and doesn’t, mean for ECDSA, SHA-256, and coins with revealed public keys. Oct 23, 2025 · Oluwapelumi Adejumo However, those claims share a common problem: they are difficult to verify in real time, and none has been accompanied by publicly documented evidence that would, on its own, explain the size and timing of the move. That does not mean every rumor is false, but the pattern is familiar in fast-moving markets. A sharp liquidation event creates a narrative vacuum, and the internet attempts to fill it, often before the underlying drivers can be measured with any clarity. In light of this, CryptoSlate's more durabl...