- Traders betting on a crypto decline suffered roughly $2.74 billion in losses over 24 hours, surpassing the short-side liquidations from October 2025, the largest liquidation episode in crypto history.
- Nearly $2.7 billion worth of short positions were forced closed as Bitcoin climbed above $71,000, marking the biggest short liquidation wave in records dating back to 2021.
- Total crypto liquidations came close to $3 billion across 172,108 traders, according to CoinGlass. Short positions represented around 92% of the total, while longs accounted for approximately $257 million, creating a gap of more than 10 to 1.
- A liquidation happens when an exchange automatically closes a leveraged trade after losses consume too much of the trader’s margin, leaving insufficient collateral to keep the position active.
- The magnitude of the latest move becomes clearer when compared with October 2025. On Oct. 10, 2025, Bitcoin plunged after reaching a record above $126,000, triggering around $19 billion in liquidations in one day. That event remains the largest crypto deleveraging episode, with short positions contributing about $2.47 billion.
- Wednesday’s short liquidations exceeded that previous figure, even though the broader market avoided the heavy long-side losses seen during major crashes.
- Bitcoin traded around $69,100 during Thursday’s Asian session, up nearly 8% over 24 hours after reaching almost $69,900. BTC had rebounded more than $5,700 from Wednesday’s low near $64,100, returning to price levels not seen since early June.
- The short squeeze happened at remarkable speed, with more than $1 billion in Bitcoin shorts liquidated within roughly an hour. Total Bitcoin short liquidations reached about $1.42 billion over the full day.
- Ether accounted for around $1.13 billion in liquidations, while Solana contributed approximately $104.67 million. The largest individual liquidation was a $48.8 million Bitcoin position on Hyperliquid.
- The liquidation record comes with an important data caveat. Binance curtailed its liquidation reporting in April 2021, while CoinGlass records only one liquidation order per second from the exchange. This means both Wednesday’s figure and historical comparisons may not capture the full amount.
- Bitcoin’s next test is whether it can stay above $71,000 during European trading. A squeeze of this scale can eliminate much of the bearish positioning supporting a rally, meaning gains driven primarily by forced short covering could fade if fresh buying demand does not follow.
$3B in Crypto Shorts Erased as Bitcoin Rally Pushes Above $71K
