Bitcoin's explosive surge to new all-time highs has left short-sellers reeling, with over $1 billion in short positions liquidated in just 24 hours. The cryptocurrency's relentless climb to $118,036 caught traders betting against the market completely off guard, triggering one of the most significant liquidation events of the year.
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Market Rally Triggers Massive Liquidation Wave
The crypto market witnessed an unprecedented event when Bitcoin went through resistance levels, reaching a new record high of $118,036 with a stunning 6.2% daily gain. This price surge created a domino effect across the futures market, forcing the liquidation of over $1.09 billion in short contracts within a single 24-hour period.
According to data from Coinglass, approximately 261,866 traders found themselves on the wrong side of the trade, with the combined value of all forced liquidations reaching $1.24 billion. The scale of this liquidation event marks it as the largest single-day occurrence of its kind in 2025, surpassing the previous high set back in May.
For traders interested in exploring opportunities beyond Bitcoin, this market volatility has also sparked interest in alternative investments, including meme coins with 1000x potential that often see dramatic price movements during broader market rallies.
Exchange Breakdown Shows Widespread Impact
The liquidation crisis was not limited to any one platform. Bybit was among the most damaged platforms, sustaining $291 million in liquidated contracts, with over 98% of these being short liquidations. HTX liquidated approximately $133 million, and after that came Gate, OKX, and Binance at $71.8 million, $54.61 million, and $54.56 million, respectively.
The biggest liquidated position was a BTC/USDT contract on the HTX exchange that accounted for nearly $88.55 million in liquidated contracts, which illustrates the extreme extent to which traders had shorted Bitcoin, anticipating that it would reverse course. The magnitude of this position indicates that at least some institutional traders were very confident in predicting Bitcoin's price would drop.
Altcoins Followed Suit
While Bitcoin was the primary focal point regarding liquidations, several other high-market-cap altcoins also played a role in one of the largest short squeezes ever recorded. For example, Ethereum also had short positions liquidated to the tune of $149.09 million compared to long positions of $22.79 million, while the price of ETH jumped 7.04% in short order.
Both Solana and XRP saw price increases of over 2% and 12% respectively, and also had very high liquidity levels of short positions liquidated. SOL had a low of $3 million of long positions liquidated compared to shorts, which totalled $14.34 million. XRP had long positions of $1.15 million versus shorts liquidated of $10.98 million.
Even Dogecoin made a showing, going up 5.91%, with long positions of less than $2 million at $1.58 million compared to short positions at $4.73 million being liquidated. The top five cryptocurrencies alone experienced $720 million in short liquidations, while there were less than $40 million in long liquidations for those assets.
Rapid Market Sentiment Shifts
The crypto community reacted quickly to the liquidation event, with analyst Miles Deutscher noting, "Bears in disbelief" as the market rally pressured skeptics. Trader Daan Crypto Trades described it as a "MASSIVE short squeeze on BTC & ETH," while others, like Velo, observed the significant liquidation and ongoing market reactions.
This shift contrasts with earlier in the week, when some analysts doubted Bitcoin's ability to reach new highs. For instance, Bitfinex noted that the sentiment was "no follow-through strength," with Bitcoin struggling around the $108,500 levels, indicating that bulls were hesitant to push prices higher without enough positive catalysts to assist them.