Wild Bitcoin Swings Lead to Unusual Liquidations on Both Long and Short Sides

Crypto markets offered a brutal reminder of the risks tied to leverage over the past 24 hours, with sharp price swings triggering more than $625 million in liquidations and catching traders positioned on both sides of the market.

CoinGlass data showed roughly 150,000 traders were forced out of positions, with losses split almost evenly between longs and shorts. About $306 million in bullish bets were wiped out, while roughly $319 million in short positions were liquidated — an unusually balanced outcome that highlighted how quickly prices reversed during the session.

The single largest liquidation took place on Hyperliquid, where a $40.22 million ETH-USD position was forcibly closed. Hyperliquid also led all venues in total liquidations, with approximately $220.8 million erased. More than 72% of those losses came from short positions, suggesting traders there were heavily positioned for downside just as prices rebounded.

Other major exchanges also saw significant activity. Binance recorded around $120.8 million in liquidations, skewed toward long positions, while Bybit saw close to $95 million wiped out, with longs again slightly outweighing shorts.

The liquidation surge coincided with sharp intraday moves in bitcoin, which briefly slipped below $88,000 before rebounding toward the $90,000 level.

Those swings unfolded against a backdrop of heightened macro uncertainty, driven by shifting expectations around U.S. trade policy, volatility in bond markets, and investor reaction to comments from U.S. President Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

For leveraged traders, the sequence proved punishing. Initial downside momentum triggered long liquidations that accelerated the selloff. As prices snapped back, short positions were quickly caught offside, unleashing a second wave of forced closures in the opposite direction. The result was a classic whipsaw that left both bulls and bears nursing losses.

Two-sided liquidation events like this tend to emerge when markets are stuck between competing narratives, with no clear trend and little margin for error. In this case, fast-moving macro headlines drove abrupt shifts in sentiment, while leverage magnified each move.

As traders look ahead, attention will remain on whether volatility cools or continues to flare. Until a clearer directional signal emerges, the latest liquidation wave suggests restraint — rather than aggressive leverage — may be the safer strategy.