Ether positions were liquidated six times faster than Bitcoin during a $1 billion cryptocurrency sell-off. Approximately $356 million in ETH positions were liquidated within 24 hours–more than Bitcoin's $298 million, despite Ether's market cap being less than a fifth of Bitcoin's.
A total of $1.19 billion was liquidated across the market in one day, with over $1 billion–in longs. The largest single loss–an Ether position of nearly $20 million on Hyperliquid. In relative terms, Ether suffered six times more damage: about $1.2 million in liquidations for every $1 billion in market cap compared to roughly $180,000 for Bitcoin. Ether fell more than 3%–to around $2,490, while Bitcoin lost about 1%. SOL liquidations amounted to $71 million, XRP–$34 million, NEAR–$25 million, and the rest combined–about $119 million.
Bitcoin dropped from around $83,200 to a low of about $80,400 late Thursday evening following the Fed's minutes, where most officials anticipated another rate hike by the end of the year, amid concerns over supply disruptions pushing oil prices higher. Additional anxiety was fueled by Ethereum researcher Justin Drake's warning that AI might crack crypto wallet mathematics sooner than expected. Traders had been leveraging all week as Bitcoin fluctuated between $83,000 and $87,000. Shorts are now paying for the rebound: Bitcoin recovered to about $82,200, and approximately 78% of the $25 million in liquidations over four hours were on bearish bets. The squeeze comes a day before the anniversary of October 10, 2025, when a record $19 billion was liquidated in a single day–about 16 times more than on Thursday.
This material is prepared solely for informational purposes and does not constitute financial advice or a recommendation.
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