ETH and Bitcoin's price surge wipes out nearly $900 million in crypto shorts as momentum builds

A sharp rally in Etheremu and Bitcoin's native tokens triggered a major deleveraging event Thursday, with more than $1.2 billion in positions liquidated over the past 24 hours, according to data from CoinGlass.

Bitcoin surged past $100,000, while ETH jumped more than 20%, catching bearish traders off guard. Over 257,000 traders were liquidated, with short positions accounting for $871 million of the total. Longs made up roughly $300 million in losses.

Ether-based shorts suffered the most, losing more than $437 million during the price breakout. One trader reportedly lost $4.8 million in just eight hours after shorting ETH with 25x leverage on the decentralized exchange Hyperliquid. The account had deposited $5 million to open the position, blockchain observer Lookonchain reported in a post on X. “Now he’s down to just $310k,” Lookonchain said Friday.

Bitcoin shorts followed closely, with $363 million in liquidations. So far, the largest single liquidation order of the day was a $12 million BTC position on Binance.

Momentum

BTC’s return to a $2 trillion market capitalization and ETH’s largest single-day growth since 2021 came amid bullish trade optics, regulatory shifts, and a key technological upgrade.

This week, the U.S. confirmed negotiations with China and disclosed a trade deal with the UK. The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency clarified that banks can buy and sell cryptocurrencies on customers' behalf, eliminating a major headwind for digital assets in the traditional finance scene. Meanwhile, Ethereum developers deployed the Pectra upgrade with code changes including optimized native staking and Layer 2 scalability, to name a few.

Following the developments on both fronts, BTC hit $103,000 and ETH rose to $2,300 according to The Block’s price page.

The GMCI 30 Index was up over 9% as major altcoins chased market leaders. More so, the total cryptocurrency market cap approached $3.4 trillion, a two-month high.

Bitfinex analysts expressed confidence that the uptrend may have more legs. “Open interest is high but not frothy, and funding is neutral — this is real demand, not leverage-driven price chasing,” they said. “Exchange balances continue to decline, and on-chain accumulation by long-term holders has resumed.”

Nansen data supported the accumulation narrative, particularly for ETH. Several “smart money” wallets topped up their ether balances in the last 48 hours, the analytics provider told The Block. Lookonchain noted that Abraxas Capital, a London-based asset manager, has withdrawn $116 million in ETH in two days, up from $75 million on Thursday.

“Momentum is strong and could persist,” said BRN lead research analyst Valentin Fournier. “The new breakout and macro support are likely to draw in new buyers."

“While we had expected a final dip before a breakout, the catalysts arrived first, potentially lifting Bitcoin toward its all-time high of $108,786. Altcoins, led by ETH, are also positioned to outperform if this momentum continues,” Fournier said.