Crypto Market Sees $1.68B in Liquidations as Overleveraged Longs Get Wiped Out

The crypto market experienced a sharp and sudden sell-off over the past 24 hours, triggering massive liquidations as overleveraged positions were forcibly closed across major exchanges. According to CoinGlass data, total liquidations reached approximately $1.68 billion, impacting around 267,370 traders in one of the most aggressive deleveraging events in recent weeks.

Long positions accounted for the overwhelming majority of the damage, with roughly $1.56 billion, or nearly 93% of all liquidations, coming from bullish bets. In contrast, short liquidations totaled just $118 million, highlighting how heavily skewed market positioning had become before prices reversed. The imbalance made the market especially vulnerable to a rapid downside move once momentum shifted.

Bitcoin and ether were at the center of the liquidation cascade. Bitcoin alone recorded about $780 million in liquidations, while ether followed with more than $414 million, based on liquidation heatmap data. One of the most notable individual losses was a $80.57 million BTC-USDT position on HTX, underscoring how even deep liquidity cannot shield traders from the risks of excessive leverage when trends reverse abruptly.

The bulk of the liquidations were concentrated on perpetual futures-focused platforms. Hyperliquid led all venues with approximately $598 million in liquidations, over 94% of which were long positions. Bybit followed with around $339 million, while Binance recorded roughly $181 million, with long exposure dominating across all major exchanges.

Liquidations occur when traders are unable to maintain required margin levels, forcing exchanges to close positions to limit further losses. In fast-moving markets, this process can become self-reinforcing, as forced selling pushes prices lower and triggers additional liquidations. That reflexive feedback loop played a major role in amplifying this latest crypto market downturn.

While the scale of the sell-off was severe, the data suggests the move was driven more by leverage unwinding than by new bearish sentiment. Heavy long liquidations often clear out speculative excess, reset funding rates, and reduce open interest. Although this does not guarantee a market bottom, it does indicate that weaker, overextended positions have been flushed, leaving price action less distorted by forced flows.