Ether traders suffered the largest losses during the latest crypto market sell-off, with approximately $356 million in ETH positions liquidated over 24 hours. The figure surpassed Bitcoin’s $298 million in liquidations, even though Ether’s market capitalization is less than 20% of Bitcoin’s.
Liquidations occur when leveraged traders lose enough of their posted collateral to trigger an automatic position closure by the exchange. The forced selling can intensify an existing downturn, pushing prices lower and exposing additional traders to liquidation.
The wider cryptocurrency market recorded $1.19 billion in liquidations over 24 hours, with more than $1 billion coming from long positions placed on expectations of rising prices. The largest individual liquidation was an Ether position worth nearly $20 million on Hyperliquid, a decentralized platform for leveraged trading.
When adjusted for market capitalization, Ether experienced approximately six times the liquidation pressure seen in Bitcoin. ETH liquidations reached roughly $1.2 million for every $1 billion in market value, compared with around $180,000 for BTC. Ether fell more than 3% to approximately $2,490, while Bitcoin declined about 1%.
Other cryptocurrencies also recorded substantial losses. Solana positions accounted for $71 million in liquidations, XRP for $34 million and NEAR for $25 million. Liquidations across all other tokens totaled approximately $119 million.
Bitcoin dropped from around $83,200 to a low near $80,400 late Thursday. The decline followed Federal Reserve meeting minutes indicating that most policymakers expected another interest-rate increase before the end of the year. Reports that the Pentagon was preparing for a possible resumption of combat operations in Iran also pushed oil prices higher, adding pressure to financial markets.
Concerns about crypto security added to the uncertainty after Ethereum researcher Justin Drake warned that advances in artificial intelligence could undermine the mathematics securing cryptocurrency wallets sooner than anticipated. At the same time, traders had built up leveraged positions throughout the week as Bitcoin traded within a range of $83,000 to $87,000. The eventual break lower triggered a wave of forced closures.
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The market rebound has since put short sellers under pressure. Bitcoin recovered to approximately $82,200 after President Donald Trump said the United States would not strike Iran before the midterm elections. About 78% of the roughly $25 million liquidated over the preceding four hours came from traders betting on further declines. During the latest hour alone, short positions accounted for nearly $12 million of approximately $13 million in liquidations.
The latest wave of forced closures comes one day before the anniversary of October 10, 2025, when the crypto market suffered a record $19 billion in liquidations in a single day. That total was approximately 16 times Thursday’s figure. Bitcoin is now trading around $800 below $83,000, the level at which Thursday’s sell-off began.
