Bitcoin Liquidations Exceeded $500 Million on 13 Days in Past Year

Bitcoin (BTC) had more than $500 million in liquidations on 13 days over the past year, underscoring the scale of forced position closures as leveraged trading meets abrupt market shifts.

Three of those days topped $1 billion. In the latest 24-hour sell-off across crypto markets, about $1.3 billion in long positions were liquidated, with Bitcoin accounting for most of the total.

High leverage and macroeconomic shocks can intensify liquidation cascades. Derivatives trading has become common across crypto markets, and liquidity can be thinner before European trading begins. In those conditions, stop-loss orders can trigger in succession and accelerate forced closures.

A competing market view holds that a pullback in AI stocks could attract speculative money from investors seeking a dip-buying opportunity, directing funds toward technology stocks instead of Bitcoin. Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have helped position BTC as a macro asset, putting it in competition with other investments for a limited pool of risk capital.