Leveraged Traders Lose $1.5 Billion as Bitcoin, Ether and XRP Slide

Cryptocurrency traders have seen approximately $1.53 billion in leveraged positions liquidated over the past 24 hours as the market struggled following Binance’s security incident. Most of the forced closures involved bullish bets, with long traders accounting for nearly 84% of the total.

Data from CoinGlass shows that around $1.29 billion in long positions were wiped out during the period. Liquidations reached approximately $1.37 billion over the latest 12 hours alone, including $1.23 billion in bullish positions.

The market pressure emerged after Binance disclosed a security breach on Thursday, estimating the impact at roughly $6.3 billion in crypto assets. The exchange pledged to cover the losses and temporarily halted deposits and withdrawals while carrying out security checks.

Bitcoin touched approximately $76,460 before rebounding toward $78,500. Ether briefly traded below $2,200 before recovering to around $2,240, while Solana, XRP and Dogecoin also recorded declines.

Leverage allows traders to take positions larger than their deposited collateral. However, when prices move unfavorably, exchanges can automatically close positions once margin requirements are no longer met. Such forced selling can deepen losses and add to market volatility.

Bitcoin and Ethereum Record the Largest Forced Closures

Bitcoin led the market in liquidation volume, with approximately $499 million in positions closed. Ethereum followed with $358 million, taking the combined total for the two assets above 50% of all liquidations.

Solana traders faced $82.6 million in forced closures, while XRP and Dogecoin recorded $38.1 million and $18.6 million, respectively.

Binance accounted for the largest share among exchanges, with $754.6 million in liquidations, equivalent to 49.2% of the market-wide figure. Approximately $670.6 million of its total involved long positions.

Hyperliquid recorded $251.4 million in liquidations, followed by Bybit at $186.5 million.

The largest single position closed during the period was an $11 million Bitcoin long on Binance, according to CoinGlass.

Short Sellers Face Growing Pressure as Prices Recover

The rebound in cryptocurrency prices has begun squeezing traders who were positioned for further declines.

Short liquidations totaled $57.3 million out of $85 million in forced closures over the latest four-hour window. In the most recent hour, they accounted for $20.6 million of the $21.6 million total, or roughly 95%.

Closing a short trade requires buying back the cryptocurrency that was previously sold. When exchanges liquidate multiple short positions, those buybacks can create additional demand and reinforce an upward price move.

This shift highlights how quickly liquidation pressure can change during volatile trading. Long positions dominated the losses during the initial downturn, but the market’s recovery is now exposing traders betting on lower prices.