Crypto markets served up another stark reminder of the risks of leverage over the past 24 hours, with violent price swings triggering more than $625 million in forced liquidations and hitting traders positioned on both sides of the market.
CoinGlass data showed roughly 150,000 traders were pushed out of positions, with liquidations split almost evenly between longs and shorts. About $306 million in bullish bets were wiped out, while approximately $319 million in short positions were liquidated — an unusually balanced outcome that reflected how abruptly prices reversed during the session.
The largest single liquidation occurred on Hyperliquid, where a $40.22 million ETH-USD position was forcibly closed. The platform also accounted for the biggest share of total liquidations, with around $220.8 million erased. More than 72% of that total came from short positions, suggesting traders there were leaning heavily toward downside just as prices turned higher.
Major centralized exchanges also saw heavy activity. Binance recorded about $120.8 million in liquidations, skewed toward long positions, while Bybit saw close to $95 million wiped out, with longs again slightly outweighing shorts.
The liquidation surge coincided with sharp intraday swings in bitcoin, which briefly slipped below $88,000 before rebounding toward the $90,000 level.
Those moves unfolded against a backdrop of elevated macro uncertainty, driven by shifting expectations around U.S. trade policy, continued volatility in bond markets, and investor reaction to comments from U.S. President Donald Trump during his appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
For leveraged traders, the sequence proved punishing. Early downside momentum triggered long liquidations that accelerated the decline. As prices snapped back, short positions were caught offside, unleashing a second wave of forced selling in the opposite direction. The result was a textbook whipsaw that left both bulls and bears nursing losses.
Two-sided liquidation events like this typically emerge when markets are caught between competing narratives, with no clear trend and little room for error. In this case, fast-moving macro headlines drove rapid shifts in sentiment, while leverage amplified each move.
Looking ahead, traders will be watching whether volatility subsides or continues to flare. Until a clearer directional signal emerges, the latest liquidation episode suggests caution — rather than aggressive leverage — may be the more prudent approach.
