Crypto markets were hit by a new wave of forced liquidations early Monday, as nearly $646 million in leveraged positions were wiped out on major exchanges, adding to the month’s bruising close and extending losses in bitcoin, ether and large-cap altcoins.
Data from Coinglass shows that long positions accounted for almost 90% of the total, with the largest liquidation being a $14.48 million ETH-USDC order on Binance.
Binance, Hyperliquid and Bybit each recorded more than $160 million in liquidations, reflecting heavy positioning that broke down during the Asian session.
Liquidation refers to when an exchange forcibly closes a trader’s leveraged position due to a partial or complete loss of the trader’s initial margin. This occurs when a trader is unable to meet the margin requirements for a leveraged position (they do not have sufficient funds to keep the trade open).
A cascade of liquidations often indicates market extremes, where a price reversal could be imminent when market sentiment overshoots in one direction.
Bitcoin fell more than 5% to around $86,000, while ether slipped more than 6% to near $2,815. Both tokens attempted a slight rebound late last week, but forced pullbacks took prices back toward the lower end of the November range.
Solana, Traders pointed to low liquidity and continued macroeconomic uncertainty as contributing to the speed of the move.
The market struggled to stabilize after a rapid decline until late November, when macroeconomic signals, ETF outflows and low weekend volumes combined to end weeks of crowded positioning.
Monday’s purge followed the same pattern seen in previous selloffs this year: strong long exposure turns into resistance, funding changes and a cascade of forced sales push major assets lower in a matter of hours.
Open interest in BTC and ETH perpetuals declined further following the rout, suggesting that some of the leverage built up during the October rally continues to fade away.
Traders say positioning now looks sharper, but with risk appetite still fragile, intraday swings are likely to remain high until liquidity improves during the US session.
