Ether Leads $1.1 Billion Crypto Liquidation Wave as Longs Unwind

Ether (ETH) accounted for the largest asset-level share of a roughly $1.1 billion crypto liquidation wave on Oct. 8, as leveraged long positions bore most of the losses during a broad market selloff.

Total liquidations reached $1.14 billion over 24 hours in a snapshot taken at about 1:44 p.m. ET (17:44 UTC). Ether liquidations totaled $333 million, while Bitcoin (BTC) long positions accounted for about $270 million.

A later snapshot put total liquidations at $1.13 billion, including $1.05 billion in longs and about $82.70 million in shorts. Ether liquidations stood at $318.53 million and Bitcoin liquidations at $286.89 million, with roughly 187,974 traders affected.

Bitcoin fell below $81,000 and reached an intraday low near $80,500. Ether fell 5.7% to $2,413.37 by 1:30 p.m. ET (17:30 UTC), trading below $2,500.

Liquidation figures measure leveraged positions forcibly closed after traders fail to maintain required collateral. They represent the notional value of closed positions, not an equivalent amount of money leaving the crypto market.