Avalanche (AVAX) Falls 3% as Bitcoin Drops Below $77K and DeFi Sells

Avalanche (AVAX) dropped about 3% on the day, slipping from $9.46 to around $9.18, with market cap near $3.96B. The move tracks Bitcoin’s weakness after BTC fell below $77,000 amid leveraged derivatives stress. Crypto liquidation rose to about $429.10M, including $284.87M long liquidations and $144.23M short liquidations, reinforcing a broader risk-off mood across altcoins. Trading data shows AVAX at roughly $9.17 (about -2.87% over 24h) and daily volume near $217.23M (+51%), suggesting sellers exiting with stronger conviction. On the technical side, AVAX’s 14-day RSI is near 36, pointing to a neutral-to-weakly bearish setup. The 50-day moving average sits around $9.42, while shorter-term averages near $9.35 act as resistance. A key psychological support is around $9.0. A break below could open a move toward $8.50, but the article notes AVAX’s short-term outlook depends on whether Bitcoin can hold above ~$76,500. DeFi fundamentals appear steadier: DeFiLlama reports total value locked around $656.65M (+1.69% daily). The news also highlights potential upside catalysts, including Bitwise launching an Avalanche ETF (BAVA) on NYSE with plans to stake, and AVAX-related firm AVAX One reporting Q1 revenue up to $2.4M. However, the current driver for traders is still the BTC-led derivatives flush and DeFi risk repricing.