A sharp rally in crypto majors over the past 12 hours triggered the largest wave of liquidations since May, wiping out more than $460 million in short positions.
Bitcoin (BTC) surged past $111,000, ether (ETH) jumped nearly 7% to above $2,700, and Solana’s SOL climbed above $158, catching traders betting against the move completely offside.
More than 114,000 traders were liquidated, with combined losses topping $527 million, according to data from Coinglass. Of that, $463 million came from short positions — or leveraged bets that the market would go lower — while only $64 million came from longs. The single largest liquidation was a $51.5 million short on HTX’s BTC-USDT pair.
Liquidations occur when traders using leverage, or borrowing funds to amplify their positions, are unable to meet margin requirements as prices move against them. Exchanges forcibly close these positions to prevent further losses, often adding fuel to the move itself.
In this case, as BTC and ETH pushed higher, waves of short liquidations may have created sudden price acceleration, forcing more traders to exit in a cascade.
This reflexive dynamic makes liquidation data a useful trading signal. Sharp spikes in liquidations, especially from one side of the book, often indicate local tops or bottoms, depending on direction and timing.
Some traders even position around it, betting on short squeezes or long flush-outs when the numbers start to skew. When combined with volume and price action, liquidation events often confirm the strength of a trend or signal its exhaustion.
While Bitcoin remains up just 2% on the week, ETH and XRP are now both up more than 7%, suggesting the rally is being led by majors outside of BTC.