Leveraged cryptocurrency traders lost $942.1 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours as total crypto market capitalization dropped 4.96% to $2.76 trillion. Long positions bore the brunt of the market drop, accounting for $863.3 million, or 91.6%, of all forced closures according to Coinglass data.
Ethereum and Bitcoin Lead Liquidations
Ethereum (ETH) registered the steepest decline among the five largest cryptocurrencies by market cap, falling 5.31% to $2,373.87. The drop triggered $283.1 million in ETH liquidations, with $261 million stemming from long contracts. This sell-off follows recent weakness after Ethereum dropped to $2,503 during earlier market movements.
Bitcoin (BTC) fell 2.54% over the same period to $81,328, resulting in $196 million in total liquidations, of which $176 million were long positions. Selling pressure intensified sharply within a short window, as $489.4 million in liquidations occurred in just one hour. Binance processed 53.7% of all market liquidations, hosting the largest single order: a $12.03 million BTCUSDT long position closed at $80,208.96. Beyond crypto assets, exchange traders also saw $22.1 million in silver (XAG) and $13.3 million in gold (XAU) contracts liquidated.
Macro Headwinds and Asian Equity Losses
The market sell-off extended to Asian equity markets on Thursday following wider economic inflation concerns. After US inflation rose to 3.7% in September from 3.4% in August, and core CPI climbed to 2.6% from 2.4%, risk assets faced renewed sell pressure.
Key regional market movements included:
- South Korea's KOSPI fell 7.85% to 5,537.15 by late morning.
- Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 4.81% to 64,489.06.
- CME FedWatch data indicates a 24.9% probability of a rate hike at the Federal Reserve's upcoming meeting on October 27 and 28.
Why It Matters
This near-billion-dollar liquidation event demonstrates the high vulnerability of over-leveraged long positions when macro economic indicators sour. As crypto assets fall in sync with major Asian equity indexes and traditional commodities, traders are rapidly de-risking across asset classes. With the Federal Reserve policy decision approaching at the end of October, continued inflation volatility could trigger further forced deleveraging events if support levels fail to hold.
