Crypto traders see over $400 million in liquidations as bitcoin slides below $67,000

Quick Take

  • Volatility in the crypto market has caused over $400 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours.
  • Bitcoin positions saw $130 million in liquidations alone, predominantly long positions.

Volatility over the past 24 hours has caused a spike in liquidations on centralized exchanges as bitcoin dropped below $67,000 and the broader crypto market followed suit.

There have been over $427 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours across various centralized crypto exchanges, according to CoinGlass data. Of these liquidations, the vast majority, around $342 million, were long positions.

Bitcoin BTC -1.61% positions took the brunt of the damage, with over $130 million in liquidations during the past 24 hours, $90 million of which were long positions.

Liquidations occur when a trader’s position is forcibly closed due to a lack of funds to cover losses. This happens when market movements are unfavorable to the trader’s position, leading to the depletion of their initial margin or collateral.

The wipeout of long positions came as bitcoin fell below the $67,000 mark, having begun trading above $71,000 yesterday. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap is down more than 4.2% over the last 24 hours, currently trading at around $66,500, according to The Block’s price page.

BTC/USD price chart. Image: The Block/TradingView

RELATED INDICES

Meanwhile, the GMCI 30 index, representing a selection of the top 30 cryptocurrencies, fell 6.8% to 143.40 in the past 24 hours, with the second-largest cryptocurrency, ether, dropping 6.5% to $3,319.

Following the downturn, analysts at crypto trading firm QCP Capital said the options market signaled the move, with the liquidations led by large retail-heavy exchanges.

“Once again, the options market provided an early signal to a sharp downside move, particularly the downside skew in risk reversals,” QCP analysts wrote in a Tuesday morning report. “The speed of the move was due to large liquidations on retail-heavy exchanges like Binance which saw perp funding rates go from as high as 77% to flat.”


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About Author

James Hunt is a reporter at The Block, based in the UK. As the writer behind The Daily newsletter, James also keeps you up to speed on the latest crypto news every weekday. Prior to joining The Block in 2022, James spent four years as a freelance writer in the industry, contributing to both publications and crypto project content. James’ coverage spans everything from Bitcoin and Ethereum to Layer 2 scaling solutions, avant-garde DeFi protocols, evolving DAO governance structures, trending NFTs and memecoins, regulatory landscapes, crypto company deals and the latest market updates. You can get in touch with James on Telegram or 𝕏 via @humanjets or email him at [email protected].

Editor

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