Crypto Shorts Crushed as Bitcoin Rally Sparks Over $500M in Liquidations
A sharp rebound in crypto markets sparked a wave of short liquidations totaling nearly $530 million over the past 24 hours, marking the largest such event since October. Traders betting against the market were caught off guard as digital assets surged on renewed optimism around U.S.-China trade relations.
Bitcoin (BTC) climbed from a session low of $88,000 to over $93,500 during early Wednesday trading in Asia, lifting the broader market along with it. Ether (ETH), Cardano’s ADA, and dogecoin (DOGE) posted gains of around 14%, while Solana (SOL) and XRP advanced roughly 7%. Virtually all top 100 cryptocurrencies were in positive territory.
Outsized gains were seen in alternative tokens like Sui (SUI), Uniswap’s UNI, and Near Protocol (NEAR), which jumped as much as 18%. Meanwhile, memecoin MOG extended its volatile trend, soaring 30% and once again mirroring ETH’s momentum as a high-beta asset.
The unwinding of bearish positions hit traders hard. Bybit saw the highest concentration of short liquidations at $234 million, followed by Binance with $100 million and Gate.io with close to $70 million. The largest single liquidation was a $4.5 million ETH futures position on Binance.
Liquidations occur when leveraged traders are forced out of their positions due to insufficient collateral, typically triggered by sharp price swings.
Market sentiment turned decisively bullish after U.S. President Donald Trump hinted at a softer approach in trade negotiations with China. He stated he would be “very nice” during talks and suggested that current tariffs could be reduced if progress is made — signaling a potential easing of geopolitical tensions.
“Traders now view a trade agreement between the U.S. and China as increasingly likely in the near term,” said Jeff Mei, COO at BTSE, in a message to CoinDesk. “While the situation remains fluid, recent developments have clearly boosted risk appetite.”
Mei also pointed to broader macro factors contributing to bitcoin’s rally. “The market is pricing in rate cuts and a weakening U.S. dollar,” he said. “With few attractive fiat alternatives globally, bitcoin could continue to strengthen as a preferred store of value.”
