Leveraged Longs Unwound as Crypto Loses $900M, ETH Seen Most Vulnerable
A sharp correction across crypto wiped out nearly $900 million in leveraged longs at the start of the week, highlighting fragility in positioning after ether’s extended run-up.
ETH bore $320 million in liquidations versus $277 million for bitcoin, while Solana, XRP, and Dogecoin combined for $90 million, Coinglass data shows. The flush coincided with ETH’s drop from $4,700 to $4,400 and BTC’s slide to $110,200, tracking overnight weakness in the S&P 500.
Derive.xyz reported a surge in realized vol, with BTC jumping to 38% and ETH spiking to 70%. Options traders turned defensive, skewing toward puts for both majors. Futures data showed record ETH shorts on CME, suggesting hedging flows tied to tokenization activity.
“BTC implied vol collapsed to record lows post-Powell … while ETH’s IV continues to rise,” said SignalPlus’ Augustine Fan.
With U.S. macro data due later this week, traders expect choppy trading to continue. ETH, where positioning looks stretched and leverage concentrated, is seen as the more fragile asset heading into September.
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