One trader lost more than $220 million on his Ethereum position as a new wave of forced liquidations swept through the cryptocurrency market, bringing total losses in the past 24 hours to nearly $2.6 billion.
According to CoinGlass data, the largest single liquidation occurred on decentralized derivatives exchange Hyperliquid, where ETH-USD positions worth $222.65 million were wiped out.
The incident comes as Ethereum has fallen 17% in the past 24 hours, matching the price of Bitcoin and other major coins during a period of thin liquidity.
A total of 434,945 traders were liquidated in the past day, with long positions accounting for the vast majority of losses. About $2.42 billion of the $2.58 billion total came from bullish bets, while short bets accounted for just $163 million.
Hyperliquid suffered the heaviest losses, with $1.09 billion in liquidations – almost all from long positions – accounting for more than 40% of the exchanges’ total losses. Bybit followed with liquidations of $574.8 million, while Binance liquidated approximately $258 million.
Ethereum bore the brunt, with more than $1.15 billion in ETH positions liquidated in the past 24 hours. Bitcoin followed, losing about $788 million, while Solana lost nearly $200 million, according to liquidation heat map data.
Liquidation occurs when a leveraged position is forced to be liquidated due to a price movement that exceeds the trader’s margin threshold. This often results in significant losses and can trigger cascading effects during periods of volatility.
Traders use liquidation data to gauge market sentiment and positioning. Heavy long liquidation often signals a panic bottom, while short liquidation may precede a squeeze.
Liquidation surges can also help identify overcrowded trades and potential reversals. When used in conjunction with open interest and funding rate data, liquidation indicators can provide strategic entry or exit points, especially in over-leveraged markets prone to sudden surges or rallies.
During periods of lower liquidity, when liquidation-driven moves become more common, relatively small price drops can spread across derivatives markets.
