Crypto markets cratered late Thursday with bitcoin (BTC) dropping as low as $25,000 on the crypto exchange Binance.

Cryptocurrency traders suffered $1 billion of losses in liquidations over the past 24 hours, according to Coinglass data, as digital-asset markets suffered one of their worst sell-offs of the year and bitcoin's price fell to a two-month low.

Bitcoin, the largest and original cryptocurrency, tumbled 7% to about $26,900, after earlier in the day dropping close to $25,000, the lowest since June.

Some $821 million of long positions – traders who bet on prices to rise – were wiped out during the rush to the exits, CoinGlass shows. Bitcoin (BTC) traders took the brunt of the losses, enduring $472 million of long liquidations, followed by ether (ETH) with $302 million.

This was the largest level of BTC liquidations for a single day since June 2022, Coinalyze data shows, around the time when the leading crypto's price plummeted to $17,000.

The liquidations occurred as crypto prices fell through the floor during Thursday afternoon U.S. hours turning this month's slow downtrend into a bloodbath amid financial markets jitters with crumbling foreign currencies, Chinese economic worries and bond yields ripping to multi-year highs. Crypto majors such as BTC and ETH saw near double-digit losses, falling to lowest since early summer.

Liquidations happen when an exchange closes a leveraged trading position due to a partial or total loss of the trader’s initial money down or "margin" – if the trader fails to meet the margin requirements or doesn't have enough funds to keep the trade open. When asset prices nosedive, the dynamic can kickstart a cascade of liquidations, exacerbating losses and price declines.

The Senate’s Standing Committee on Finance has decided to ban cryptocurrency services in Pakistan from the country’s Internet.

Minister of State for Finance Aisha Ghaus Pasha said that the government will never legalize cryptocurrency in Pakistan..

She added that FATF has also imposed conditions and cryptocurrencies will not be allowed

“Billions of dollars of Pakistan have been invested in cryptocurrency,” Senator Salim Mandviwala.

SBP officials also said that cryptocurrency is a total fraud which will never be recognized in Pakistan.

He said that FIA and Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU) crackdown on Pakistani investment in cryptocurrency.

Central bank’s Director Sohail Jawad also said that the cryptocurrency global market has shrunk From $2.8 trillion to $1.2 trillion. He said over 16,000 types of crypto currency have been created so far.

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