Nearly $1B liquidated as crypto longs get wiped out

The crypto market saw nearly $1B in liquidations over the past 24 hours as heavily bullish positioning unraveled across major assets, according to CryptoMeter data. Roughly $979.7m worth of leveraged positions were wiped out during the period, with long traders accounting for the overwhelming majority of losses. Apparently, the long side was feeling extra optimistic this week.

The data showed approximately $769.7m in long liquidations compared to around $210.1m in shorts. That means nearly 79% of all liquidated positions were due to bullish bets, a familiar outcome for anyone who has watched the space for more than five minutes.

Bitcoin and Ethereum absorbed most of the damage as the broader market pulled back.

The liquidation imbalance suggests traders entered the session with aggressively bullish positioning, only for momentum to reverse sharply.

Bitcoin saw roughly $299.4m in total liquidations over the 24-hour period, while Ethereum followed closely with around $287.7m. Together, the two largest cryptocurrencies accounted for nearly $600m in liquidated positions.

This signals that the sell-off extended beyond isolated altcoin volatility and reflected broader market deleveraging.

Ethereum positioning appeared especially crowded on the long side. CryptoMeter data showed ETH traders lost around $246.4m in long liquidations compared to just $41.3m in shorts. Roughly 86% of Ethereum liquidations came from bullish positions, suggesting many traders were positioned for continued upside just before the market reversed. The conviction, it turns out, was not rewarded.

One of the more unusual moves came from Zcash, which recorded approximately $76.3m in liquidations despite its relatively smaller market size. The spike came as the Zcash ecosystem coordinated an emergency Orchard network upgrade after developers identified an issue affecting Orchard shielded transactions earlier this week. While the Zcash Foundation said user funds and privacy remained unaffected, the protocol-level update temporarily suspended Orchard activity, triggering heightened volatility in the asset.

The latest liquidation wave highlights how sensitive the market remains to shifts in momentum, coming after weeks of increasingly crowded long positioning across major cryptocurrencies. Liquidation events of this scale often amplify volatility because forced position closures accelerate downside price movement, particularly when leverage concentration is one-sided. The data also suggests traders continue using leverage aggressively despite ongoing macro uncertainties, because of course they do.