Ethereum traders bore the brunt of the carnage, with $244M in forced closures as leveraged bulls got a brutal reality check.
More than half a billion dollars in leveraged long positions were wiped out across crypto markets in a single day, catching bullish traders flat-footed in what turned out to be the most painful liquidation event in months.
The $563 million in forced long closures marks the largest one-day liquidation since February, when Bitcoin tumbled toward $60K and erased $1.84 billion in bullish bets.
Ethereum took the hardest hit
ETH longs accounted for roughly $244 million of the total, making Ethereum the single biggest contributor to the liquidation wave. Bitcoin followed at approximately $160 million in forced long closures, with the remainder spread across altcoins.
Only $65 million in short positions were liquidated over the same 24-hour window. That lopsided ratio tells you everything about how the market was positioned: overwhelmingly bullish, and overwhelmingly wrong.
At the time of the selloff, Bitcoin was trading near $76,886 and Ethereum near $2,119. The crypto Fear and Greed index sat at 39, firmly in “fear” territory, a sharp contrast to the confident positioning that all those leveraged longs implied.
What triggered the cascade
Rising Treasury yields and fresh inflation data contributed to a broader risk-off mood across financial markets, and crypto, as the most leveraged corner of the risk asset universe, felt it acutely.
The February event, which saw $1.84 billion in liquidations, was roughly three times larger. But that occurred during a much sharper Bitcoin drawdown toward the $60K level. The fact that $563 million in longs were wiped out during a comparatively modest move suggests that leverage ratios in the market had crept back up to uncomfortable levels.
The comparison to February is also worth sitting with. That $1.84 billion event preceded a period of choppy, range-bound trading before Bitcoin eventually found its footing. Treasury yields and inflation expectations will be the variables to watch in the coming weeks.
