The crypto market experienced nearly $2 billion in liquidations over the past 24 hours, as the total market capitalization dropped below $3 trillion for the first time in five months.
Bitcoin (BTC) alone accounted for nearly half of the total liquidations, with traders betting on further upside taking the biggest losses during the latest wipeout.
Major Liquidation Cascade Sweeps Crypto Market
According to data from Coinglass, the cryptocurrency space has experienced another significant liquidation event. Over the past 24 hours, 391,164 traders were liquidated, pushing total liquidations to $1.91 billion.
Long positions represented $1.78 billion of the total liquidated, while shorts totaled just $129.3 million. The single largest liquidation took place on Hyperliquid, a decentralized perpetuals exchange, where a BTC-USD position worth $36.78 million was closed.
Crypto Liquidations Near $2 billion. Source: Coinglass
Bitcoin led all liquidations, with $929 million of its $960 million total from long positions. Ethereum (ETH) followed with $403.15 million, again mostly from leveraged longs.
On-chain data illustrates the significant impact of the wipeout on notable traders. PeckShieldAlert reported that several major ETH whales were liquidated after the second-largest cryptocurrency fell below $2,900. Individual liquidations ranged from $2.9 million to $6.52 million.
Furthermore, Lookonchain highlighted that Machi, a high-profile figure, saw his account shrink to just $15,538. His total losses now exceed $20 million. Another significant loss was recorded by the “Anti-CZ Whale.”
The blockchain analytics firm noted that this trader’s profit on Hyperliquid fell substantially in just 10 days. Large leveraged long positions in ETH and XRP were primarily responsible. Moreover, the whale was again liquidated today.
“He was once a legend with nearly $100 million in profit — now his profits have dropped to $30.4 million,” Lookonchain added.
This sell-off comes as the total market capitalization dropped over 6% in the past day to $2.9 trillion. The Kobeissi Letter emphasized that the market has lost $1.3 trillion in value since early October.
“This is one of the fastest moving crypto bear markets ever,” the post read.
The Kobeissi Letter described it as a “mechanical bear market” caused by heavy leverage and sporadic liquidations. As leveraged traders are forced to sell with prices falling, a feedback loop adds downward pressure. According to their analysis,
“Throughout the course of this 45-day bear market, crypto has seen little to no bearish fundamental developments. The market is efficient. It will iron itself out.”
