In the past 24 hours, approximately $250 million worth of short positions across Bitcoin and Ethereum were liquidated, primarily due to a strong upward move in prices that triggered margin calls and forced closures in derivative markets.
Breakdown of Liquidations
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A large portion of this liquidation wave occurred in perpetual futures markets, where short positions were squeezed by sudden bullish momentum.
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Ethereum was hit hardest: about $170 million in ETH positions were wiped out, with ~82% of them being long positions (indicating many were short-sellers betting on a decline).
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Bitcoin accounted for roughly $51.7 million in liquidations, of which around 89% were long positions.
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Altcoins like Solana (SOL) also saw liquidations—about $27.2 million, with ~83.6% being long positions affected.
Market Impact & Insights
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The mass liquidation of shorts can rapidly fuel further price appreciation because when shorts are forced to cover, they must buy back, adding upward pressure.
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These events expose the vulnerability of heavily leveraged short trades — even modest price reversals can lead to cascade losses.
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Exchanges offering high leverage, especially in perpetual futures, are central in such events; many of the forced liquidations occurred on those platforms.
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Traders and analysts will now watch key support levels, funding rates, and open interest to gauge whether the market can sustain the momentum or if pressure will reverse.
