More than $680 million in crypto positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours with short traders taking the bulk of the pain as a bitcoin (BTC) breakout above $121,000 triggered a chain reaction across derivatives markets.
Roughly $426 million of the total liquidations came from bearish bets, according to Coinglass data, making it one of the largest weekend liquidation events in recent months. The largest single order, a $92.5 million BTC short, was flushed on HTX.
BTC alone saw $291 million in forced closures, with futures tracking ether (ETH) and XRP (XRP) following at $68 million and $17 million, respectively. XLM (XLM) and pepecoin (PEPE) also posted elevated activity, signaling that the squeeze extended deep beyond major tokens.
Meanwhile, dogecoin (DOGE), Solana's SOL (SOL), and SUI (SUI) saw rising open interest, though with relatively smaller drawdowns, indicative of higher spot-based demand.
Liquidations occur when traders using leverage are forced to close their positions due to margin calls. While they often signal excessive positioning, they also serve as a reset mechanism for markets, flushing weak hands and clearing the way for new directional flow.
Bitcoin’s rally in the past week has sparked a broader breakout across major crypto assets. Traders say that market structure is evolving under the weight of institutional influence — with eyes on the $130,000 mark in the short term.
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