The essence of this round of decline is still the withdrawal of leverage and liquidity.
In the context of the cycle, this is a typical phase of defoaming to the stage of dispelling illusions. BTC returned to 76,000 – 78,000, which is a one-time correction of the market that previously exchanged time for space. It affects time more: compressing what should have been a slow correction into a period of high-intensity liquidation.
The weekend crash, the liquidation of 2 billion USD, and the emotional blame on Binance are essentially just the structure being overly reliant on leverage. The exchange is merely an amplifier.
The real risk has never been the decline, but rather that everyone thinks it won't decline again.
ETH has dropped even more severely, which is a natural result when risk appetite retreats; BTC remains a thermometer for macro emotional temperature; BNB, SOL, and XRP are more like liquidity pressure zones in this round. However, the actions of long-term funds are quite consistent; MicroStrategy has not changed its strategy, and the corporate BTC treasury has not hit the brakes.
When safe-haven assets are sought after, risk assets must first take a hit.
The real bear market is not when the decline is the most significant, but when no one discusses whether to bottom fish anymore.