One trader lost more than $220 million on an ether position as a new wave of forced liquidations swept crypto markets, bringing total losses over the past 24 hours to nearly $2.6 billion.
The largest liquidation took place on decentralized derivatives exchange Hyperliquid, where an ETH-USD position worth $222.65 million was wiped out, according to CoinGlass data.
The event came as ether fell 17% in the past 24 hours, sharply alongside bitcoin and other major tokens during a period of low liquidity.
A total of 434,945 traders were liquidated over the past day, with long positions accounting for the vast majority of losses. About $2.42 billion of the total $2.58 billion came from bullish bets, while short sales accounted for just $163 million.
Hyperliquid suffered the greatest damage, recording $1.09 billion in liquidations – almost all from long positions – accounting for more than 40% of total losses on exchanges. Bybit followed with $574.8 million in liquidations, while Binance saw around $258 million.
Ether was hit the hardest by the sell-off, with over $1.15 billion in ETH positions liquidated in the last 24 hours. Bitcoin followed with around $788 million, while Solana saw nearly $200 million wiped out, according to liquidation heatmap data.
Liquidations occur when leveraged positions are forcibly closed due to price movement beyond a trader’s margin threshold. This usually results in significant losses and can trigger cascading effects during volatile moves.
Traders use liquidation data to gauge market sentiment and positioning. Long, large sell-offs often signal a panic bottom, while short sell-offs may precede a squeeze.
Liquidation spikes also help identify crowded trades and potential reversals. When combined with open interest and funding rate data, liquidation measures can provide strategic entry or exit points, particularly in overleveraged markets prone to sudden bursts or rallies.
Liquidation moves have become more common during periods of low liquidity, where relatively small price declines can ripple through derivatives markets.
