(MENAFN- The Rio Times) Bitcoin hovered near $112,000 on Wednesday morning after a punishing 48 hours that rattled every corner of crypto.

Ethereum steadied around $4,100; Solana outperformed near $204; Litecoin pushed toward $100; XRP traded near $2.49; Dogecoin held around $0.20.

BNB lagged near $1,186. The board also showed eye-watering moves in small, thinly traded tokens-spectacular, but mostly a story about low liquidity rather than a new bull run.

What happened is simple: leverage snapped. Since late last week roughly $19 billion in derivatives positions were forced out, the biggest clean-out of the year.

That left spot buyers briefly in charge and altcoins especially vulnerable. Tuesday's fresh bout of nerves followed renewed U.S.–China trade salvos, which hit risk assets broadly and amplified crypto's slide.



Why the market didn't break: cash kept trickling in. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs took in about $103 million on Tuesday even as prices fell, while ether ETFs swung from a large Monday outflow to roughly $236 million of net inflows on Tuesday-evidence that institutions are buying dips, if selectively.

A newer Solana vehicle saw a modest outflow, consistent with traders rotating after a strong run. Options desks also report a post-shock regime: front-end volatility elevated, more puts than calls, and hedges staying on-signs of caution, not capitulation.

The charts tell a two-part story. On the 4-hour view, bitcoin looks like it's building a floor: momentum is improving from deeply negative, and reclaiming the $113,000–$114,500 zone would open a path back to $116,000.

On the daily chart, the tone is still corrective-price is clinging above a thick support band around $107,000, with trend gauges pointing down. Lose $110,000 and a retest of $108,000–$107,000 is back on the table.

Bottom line: This is a market that just learned, again, how quickly leverage can evaporate. The near-term path depends on two things-whether bitcoin can retake the $113k–$114.5k band, and whether ETF and stablecoin inflows keep cushioning the floor. For now, stabilization beats a spiral, but the burden of proof sits with the bulls.

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