Market Turmoil: $588 Million in Total Liquidations Sweeps Through Crypto Exchanges

The cryptocurrency landscape experienced significant turbulence over the last 24 hours, with a massive $588 million in total liquidations across all networks. This wave of forced position closures reveals a stark contrast between bull and bear positioning in the market.

According to Coinglass data, the liquidation cascade was predominantly driven by short-position unwinding, which accounted for $504 million of the total. Long positions, meanwhile, saw $84.2742 million liquidated, indicating that bears were caught off-guard more severely than bulls during this volatile period.

Bitcoin and Ethereum Lead the Liquidation Rally

Bitcoin (BTC) emerged as the primary liquidation epicenter, with $130 million in BTC positions forcibly closed. Ethereum (ETH) followed closely behind, experiencing $239 million in total liquidations—marking it as the second-largest contributor to the day’s market disruption.

This concentrated liquidation activity in these two major assets underscores their outsized influence on overall market sentiment and leverage dynamics.

The Dominance of Short Liquidations

The overwhelming majority of liquidations stemmed from short positions getting squeezed out of the market. With nearly 86% of total liquidations coming from underwater shorts, it suggests that traders who bet on declining prices were caught in a sudden upward move, triggering automatic position closures.

Long liquidations, though relatively minor in comparison, still demonstrate that overleveraged bullish positions weren’t immune to the volatility, though the directional bias clearly favored liquidating bears during this 24-hour window.