Ether Liquidations Hit Six Times Bitcoin’s Rate in $1B Crypto Market Wipeout

Around $356 million worth of Ether positions were liquidated over a 24-hour period, exceeding Bitcoin’s total despite ETH having a market capitalization of less than one-fifth of BTC’s.

Ether traders bore the brunt of Thursday’s late-session crypto sell-off, with approximately $356 million in ETH positions wiped out within 24 hours. Bitcoin liquidations totaled $298 million, even though BTC’s market value is more than five times larger than Ether’s.

Liquidations occur when traders use borrowed funds to increase their market exposure and their losses consume the collateral backing their positions. The exchange then automatically closes those positions, often selling assets into a declining market and adding further downward pressure on prices.

The broader crypto market recorded $1.19 billion in liquidations over the same 24-hour period. More than $1 billion came from long positions held by traders anticipating price increases. The largest individual liquidation involved an Ether position worth nearly $20 million on Hyperliquid, a decentralized exchange that offers leveraged trading.

Relative to market capitalization, Ether experienced roughly six times the liquidation impact seen in Bitcoin.

ETH liquidations amounted to approximately $1.2 million per $1 billion in market value, compared with around $180,000 for BTC. Ether dropped more than 3% to approximately $2,490, while Bitcoin declined about 1%.

Solana positions accounted for another $71 million in liquidations, followed by XRP at $34 million and NEAR at $25 million. All remaining tokens together contributed approximately $119 million.

Bitcoin fell from around $83,200 to a low near $80,400 late Thursday. The decline followed the release of Federal Reserve meeting minutes showing that most officials anticipated another interest-rate increase before the end of the year. Separately, reports that the Pentagon was preparing for a possible resumption of combat operations in Iran drove oil prices higher, adding to pressure on risk assets.

Ethereum researcher Justin Drake also heightened market anxiety by warning that artificial intelligence could undermine the mathematical foundations protecting crypto wallets sooner than previously expected. Meanwhile, traders had accumulated leveraged positions throughout the week as Bitcoin fluctuated between $83,000 and $87,000, leaving the market vulnerable when prices broke out of that range.

Read More: Bitcoin and Ether holders urged to enter ‘bunker mode’ against possible AI attacks.

Short sellers are now facing losses as prices rebound. Bitcoin climbed back to approximately $82,200 after President Donald Trump said the United States would not attack Iran before the midterm elections. Of the roughly $25 million in liquidations recorded over the previous four hours, about 78% involved traders betting on further price declines. During the most recent hour alone, short positions accounted for nearly $12 million of approximately $13 million in liquidations.

The rebound-driven short squeeze arrives one day before the anniversary of October 10, 2025, when a record $19 billion in crypto positions were liquidated in a single day—roughly 16 times Thursday’s total. Bitcoin is now trading around $800 below the $83,000 level where Thursday’s sell-off began.

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