Bitcoin’s dramatic retreat from the $100,000 level triggered widespread liquidations across major crypto exchanges, including Binance, OKX, and HTX, leaving thousands of traders reeling.
Bitcoin’s Volatility Sparks Liquidations
The cryptocurrency market faced a wave of liquidations on Sunday as Bitcoin’s price reversed its rally, leading to losses exceeding $500 million within a 24-hour period. Binance, the world’s largest exchange by volume, bore the brunt of these liquidations.
Bitcoin’s recent surge, fueled by heightened market optimism following Donald Trump’s U.S. presidential victory earlier this month, saw the crypto asset trade above $98,000 for much of the week. Despite flirting with the $100,000 mark, Bitcoin experienced a sharp drop below $96,000 on Sunday, wiping hundreds of millions from the market in hours.
Market-Wide Impact
The global cryptocurrency market cap shrank from $3.5 trillion to $3.3 trillion as Bitcoin led the decline. Data from Coinglass reveals that over 199,000 traders faced liquidations totaling $511.27 million. Of this, $380.57 million was attributed to long positions, while $130.53 million came from short positions.
Binance witnessed the single largest liquidation order—a $13.4 million BTC/USDT trade—while the exchange itself recorded $225.67 million in total liquidations. Other major platforms, including OKX, Bybit, and HTX, saw liquidations amounting to $123.18 million, $119.03 million, and $28.19 million, respectively.
Breakdown of Liquidations by Asset
According to the Coinglass liquidation heatmap, Bitcoin accounted for $78.94 million of the total liquidations. Ethereum (ETH) followed with $42.25 million, while popular altcoins Dogecoin (DOGE) and XRP recorded liquidations of $34.96 million and $30.62 million, respectively.
As per CoinMarketCap data, Bitcoin’s price dropped from a daily high of $98,515 to a low of $95,830 on Sunday evening (GMT+3). However, the flagship cryptocurrency managed to recover slightly and was trading at $97,618 at the time of writing.