Bitcoin (BTC) has recently undergone a notable downturn, slipping from its heights above $70,000 amidst heightened volatility, prompting a surge in liquidations across the market.

During Tuesday's trading session, Bitcoin briefly breached the $70,000 milestone before retracing by 3.5% to hover around $67,000. This movement triggered a significant wave of liquidations among leveraged positions across various exchanges.

Currently, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization is trading at approximately $67,400, according to data from The Block. Bitcoin's current price is approximately 8.5% lower than its all-time high of $73,737 reached on March 14.

In the wake of the approval of spot Ethereum ETFs, the market witnessed heightened volatility, resulting in liquidations totaling over $378 million within the past 24 hours. Long positions accounted for the majority of these liquidations, totaling $295 million, according to CoinGlass data.

Ether (ETH), the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network, saw significant liquidations, amounting to over $147 million, with $105 million originating from long positions.

Liquidations occur when traders' positions are automatically closed due to insufficient funds to sustain their positions, typically due to adverse market movements eroding their initial margin or collateral.

Meanwhile, ETH experienced substantial volatility over the past day, reaching a new monthly peak of $3,937 before retracing to $3,710 at the time of reporting. Nevertheless, ETH has seen a notable increase of over 20% since the beginning of the week.

Major altcoins, such as Solana (SOL), saw a slight decline to $167, representing a daily drawdown of 4%.

The GM 30 Index, which tracks a basket of the top 30 cryptocurrencies, posted a 3.8% increase to reach 143 during the same 24-hour period.

The recent approval by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of eight spot Ethereum ETFs from various prominent firms, including BlackRock, Fidelity, and Grayscale, marks a significant milestone. This approval, coming just four months after the authorization of spot Bitcoin ETFs, allows investors to gain exposure to Ethereum's market price without directly holding the cryptocurrency. While the 19b-4 forms have been approved, the S-1 registration statements of spot Ethereum ETF issuers must become effective before trading can commence.