In a turbulent turn of events, the cryptocurrency market saw significant liquidations totaling over $207 million within the last 24 hours, as reported by Coinglass data. The majority of these liquidations, amounting to $184.09 million, involved long positions, reflecting a widespread unwinding of bullish bets across various digital assets.

A notable $135.84 million worth of crypto was liquidated in just the past four hours, underscoring the swift and intense nature of the market correction. Leading the tally of exchanges by total liquidation amounts was OKX, where traders faced liquidations totaling $47.64 million. Following closely were Binance with $43.84 million and Huobi with $27.19 million in liquidations respectively.

The impact has been felt broadly across the crypto trading community, with nearly 80,000 traders facing liquidation in this volatile period. Among these, the largest single liquidation reached an astonishing $3 million on OKX, highlighting the substantial losses incurred by some participants.

The crypto sell-off coincided with Bitcoin's drop to an intraday low of $65,018 earlier this Friday, according to CoinGecko data. Although it has since recovered slightly to trade around $65,448, the flagship cryptocurrency remains down approximately 5% over the past week.

Earlier in the week, Bitcoin had approached the $70,000 mark buoyed by lower-than-expected US inflation data for May. However, sentiment reversed sharply following remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, which were perceived as more hawkish than anticipated. Powell's comments dashed hopes for potential rate cuts this year, adding to the market's unease.

Moreover, Bitcoin faced headwinds from outflows in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and broader macroeconomic uncertainties, factors that contributed to its breach below the critical support level of $66,000. This confluence of events has left traders and investors navigating heightened volatility and renewed uncertainty in the cryptocurrency markets.