Baku: Bitcoin traded just above 15-month lows on Wednesday after a sharp sell-off pushed the world's largest cryptocurrency to lows near $73,000 amid a wave of liquidations and broader risk aversion. The world's largest cryptocurrency last traded 2.8% lower at $76,509.1 01:56 ET (06:56 GMT), after reaching as low as $73,004.3-levels not seen since November 2024.

According to Azeri-Press News Agency, the slide was accompanied by large-scale liquidations of leveraged long positions. Data from crypto analytics firm CoinGlass showed that nearly $740 million worth of bullish bets were wiped out over the past 24 hours, as falling prices triggered margin calls and forced traders to unwind positions.

Bitcoin's weakness marks a sharp reversal from the rally seen late last year, when the token surged following Donald Trump's election victory. At the time, investors had piled into cryptocurrencies on expectations that a new U.S. administration could bring a more favorable regulatory stance toward digital assets. Bitcoin had also drawn support from Federal Reserve interest rate cuts beginning in December 2024, which boosted appetite for riskier assets.

Gold and other traditional safe-haven assets rebounded on Wednesday amid rising geopolitical tensions between the United States and Iran. Cryptocurrency markets are also grappling with uncertainty around U.S. monetary policy after Trump nominated former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair. Warsh is widely viewed as hawkish, prompting liquidity concerns.

Most altcoins remained weak on Thursday, with much bigger losses than Bitcoin. World no.2 crypto Ethereum fell 2.3% to $2,268.92. World no. 3 crypto XRP eased 1.1% to $1.59. Solana dropped 6%, while Cardano edged lower, and Polygon declined 3.5% each. Among meme tokens, Dogecoin ticked 0.2% lower.