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Amid a shocking contraction in the U.S. labor market that has heightened anxiety among global investors, leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) is walking a precarious tightrope around the $68,000 support level, hit hard by outflows from spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and cascading liquidations in the derivatives market.
According to CoinMarketCap on March 7 (local time), Bitcoin fell 4.07% over the past 24 hours to $68,320.37, leading the broader market downturn. The decline shows an extremely high 91% correlation with the S&P 500 index, clearly indicating that this is not merely an internal issue within the virtual asset market but a risk-off movement driven by macroeconomic uncertainty.
The strongest downward pressure stemmed from U.S. employment data that fell far short of expectations. In February, the U.S. economy lost 92,000 jobs and the unemployment rate surged to 4.4%, completely undermining market expectations of a soft landing. This macroeconomic shock triggered extreme risk aversion among investors, causing simultaneous plunges in both equity and crypto markets and rendering even positive on-chain indicators and technical factors ineffective.
Capital outflows from institutional investors and forced liquidations in the derivatives market further amplified the losses. After three consecutive days of net inflows, Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded net outflows of $228 million starting March 5, fueling the downturn. At the same time, long position liquidations surged 71.46% within 24 hours to $157.24 million, forcing over-leveraged positions onto the market.
Market attention is now focused on whether the key support zone between $68,000 and $69,000 can hold. This range represents a critical defense line where the 50% Fibonacci retracement level overlaps with the 30-day simple moving average. If this support breaks, there is a risk of further decline toward $66,200. In the event of a rebound, the primary resistance zone is expected between $72,000 and $72,500.
In particular, the $2.2 billion Bitcoin options expiry scheduled for March 6 is being cited as a major catalyst that could maximize market volatility. With a weakened macroeconomic environment and institutional selling creating short-term downward momentum, changes in trading volume during the options expiry period and the defense of the $68,000 support level are expected to serve as the decisive battleground that determines Bitcoin’s near-term trajectory.
Disclaimer: This article is for investment reference only and the publisher is not responsible for any investment losses incurred based on this information. The content should be interpreted for informational purposes only.