A rough early session for crypto markets took a turn for the worse in U.S. afternoon hours Thursday, with bitcoin (BTC) tumbling below $109,000, its weakest price in nearly a month. Ether (ETH) plummeted 8% through the past 24 hours rapidly approaching $3,800, erasing gains since early August. It's now has lost 22% since its record highs last month. Solana (SOL), changing hands above $250 only two weeks ago, plunged below $200, down another 8% today. The CoinDesk 20 Index was down 6%. The sharp move lower across the board triggered a widespread leverage flush on derivatives markets, liquidating over $1.1 billion worth of leveraged trading positions, CoinGlass data shows. Ether led liquidations with over $400 million long positions, or bets on higher prices, being wiped out, followed by bitcoin's $265 million. Crypto equities also took a hit. Michael Saylor's Strategy (MSTR), the largest corporate owner of BTC, sunk as much as 10% during the session to five-month low. The stock, which is often seen as a leveraged bet on bitcoin's price, gave up all of this year's gains and is now 1.5% down year-to-date, while BTC is still holding on 16% advance during the same period. Ether treasury firms Bitmine (BMNR) and Sharplink Gaming (SBET) were down 7%-8%,as were bitcoin miners MARA Holdings. (MARA) and Riot Platforms (RIOT). With Thursday's nosedive, BTC is now on the brink of taking out the lows of late August-early September, when it bottomed just above $107,000. That price level could serve as support at least for a bounce, with order books also showing a liquidity cluster which could absorb selling pressure, CoinDesk reported on a Hyblock Capital analysis. Read more: Here Are the 3 Make-Or-Break Bitcoin Price Floors as BTC Sell-off Gathers Steam
