Bitcoin (BTC-USD) experienced a significant decline, dropping below a key technical support level that has recently been a stronghold for the cryptocurrency. This downturn occurred amidst a broader selloff in risk assets, including equities, which also traded lower.

As of 12:00 p.m. ET, Bitcoin (BTC-USD) had fallen by 4.4%, reaching $59,000. Earlier in the session, it had briefly climbed above $60,200. This marked a sharp reversal from Monday’s trading, when the cryptocurrency was valued at around $63,000.

The rapid decline in Bitcoin’s price triggered approximately $327 million in liquidations of leveraged crypto derivatives positions over the past 24 hours, according to data from CoinGlass. This event represents the largest liquidation since August 5, when Bitcoin (BTC-USD) temporarily dropped below $50,000.

Ether (ETH-USD), the largest altcoin by market capitalization, also saw its price decrease by 3.5%, falling to $2,490 after peaking at $2,700 earlier on Wednesday. Other notable cryptocurrencies followed suit, with polygon (MATIC-USD) dropping 11.2%, sui (SUI-USD) declining 10.5%, pepe (PEPE-USD) falling 7.3%, celestia (TIA-USD) decreasing 7.2%, and pyth network (PYTH-USD) slipping by 6.3%.

The widespread weakness in the cryptocurrency market mirrored a risk-off sentiment in the stock market. All three major U.S. indices were in negative territory, compounded by a decline in shares of AI leader Nvidia (NVDA), which fell ahead of its quarterly earnings report.