Crypto Liquidation Hits $320M as Bitcoin Records New All-Time High

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As a seasoned crypto investor with scars from numerous market battles etched deep into my digital wallet, I find myself once again navigating the treacherous waters of extreme volatility. The recent surge in Bitcoin‘s price to $106,000 was like a siren’s call that lured many traders, including short ones, into positions they would later regret.

Crypto traders utilizing leverage are experiencing turbulence as they adapt to Bitcoin’s (BTC) recent surge past $106,000 on Monday. This rapid increase in price resulted in around $320 million worth of liquidations within the last 24 hours and a loss of approximately $8 million for the market over the past hour. Traders with high-risk positions were unable to fulfill margin calls, which set off a chain reaction of compulsory sales due to their inability to meet these demands.

Based on CoinGlass data, it appears that over 94,559 short traders who bet on a drop in the prices of Bitcoin ($3,942), Ethereum ($3,942), Ripple‘s XRP ($2.38), Dogecoin ($0.40), and Pepe coin ($0.000023) collectively lost around $196.41 million in the last 24 hours as the market instead rose, bucking their predictions.

Short Traders Hit Hard

For long-term traders, the losses they experienced were considerably smaller than those suffered by their short-term counterparts as of December 16, with approximately $117 million worth of long, leveraged trades being compulsorily terminated.

The data from CoinGlass shows that Bitcoin (BTC) accounted for approximately $120 million in total liquidations. Short traders suffered the majority of these losses, with around $104 million being wiped out from their positions. Long traders, on the other hand, experienced relatively minor losses of nearly $16 million during this period.

For several weeks now, due to the market’s surge following the positive outcome of the U.S. elections in November, frequent short sellers have often found themselves at a disadvantage, getting caught up in the strong upward trends.

On Monday, December 9th, a significant shift occurred as approximately 9,514,400 traders encountered liquidations totaling about $1.51 billion. In the course of these liquidations, around $1.38 billion of the overall loss was attributed to long positions, while short positions accounted for roughly $136.7 million. During this period, Bitcoin-related liquidations amounted to $163.4 million, with the majority of losses affecting those holding short positions.

Ethereum and Altcoins Also Face Losses

On that very day, I observed Bitcoin’s liquidations peak at a three-year maximum due to a sharp decline in its price, striking a crucial market benchmark. This wave of liquidations was the aftermath of the massive $1.1 billion in cryptocurrency liquidations on December 5, which turned out to be the largest liquidation event since December last year. This significant event can be attributed to major players undergoing a “leverage flush”.

Today, I’ve observed that the selling off wasn’t limited to just Bitcoin. A number of other digital currencies have taken a hit too, adding to the volatility and uncertainty that characterizes the crypto market. Its erratic performance seems to defy investor expectations once again.

According to CoinGlass, Ethereum traders endured around $44 million in losses from liquidations. Meanwhile, Solana (SOL), priced at $216.9, experienced a 24-hour volatility of 0.5%, boasting a market cap of $103.94 billion and a 24-hour volume of $5.14 billion. Similarly, Ethena (ENA) recorded losses of approximately $6 million, with a 24-hour volatility of 2.6%. It has a market cap of $3.50 billion and a 24-hour volume of $1.05 billion. Lastly, Arbitrum (ARB), valued at $0.98, saw losses of roughly $1.5 million. In total, these altcoins faced liquidations surpassing $44 million, with $30 million attributed to long traders.

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2024-12-16 14:27