Bitcoin fell below $106,000 on Friday morning as leveraged traders again faced heavy losses, with nearly $1.2 billion in crypto positions wiped out in the past 24 hours.
The data showed that most of the damage came from long positions, reflecting the aggressiveness with which traders had positioned themselves for a rebound earlier in the week.
According to CoinGlass, almost 79% of total liquidations were long trades, affecting more than 307,000 accounts. The biggest hit was a $20.4 million ETH-USD long position on Hyperliquid, a decentralized derivatives exchange that has quietly become one of the leading drivers of leveraged trading in crypto.
Bitcoin accounted for around $344 million in losses, followed by Ether with $201 million and Solana. at $97 million. XRP, and other high-beta tokens have each seen tens of millions more withdrawn from open interest.
Among exchanges, Hyperliquid saw the most activity with $391 million, followed by Bybit with $300 million, Binance with $259 million, and OKX with $99 million. This mix shows how blockchain platforms now sit alongside traditional trading platforms during major market resets.
Liquidations occur when traders using borrowed money to amplify their positions can no longer meet margin requirements. Simply put, if the market goes too far relative to a leveraged bet, the position is forcibly closed to prevent further losses.
These events can turn into massive sell-offs when large groups of stop orders trigger simultaneously, creating what traders call a “liquidation loop.”
Such loops are often tracked using liquidation heatmaps and open interest data, which can show where large concentrations of leverage exist in the market. As price approaches these zones, traders closely monitor potential squeeze or unwind events that can define the next directional move.
Bitcoin’s decline began Thursday evening as prices crossed the $107,000 level, triggering a chain of forced closes that reverberated through derivatives markets.
This decision comes in a tense macroeconomic context. Further friction between the United States and China has dented risk appetite, while a stronger yen and weaker gold prices have added to uncertainty. Bitcoin has now given back most of its gains from earlier in the week, while ether is trading just below $3,900, down about 4% on the day.
