Crypto Longs Flushed as $900M Liquidated, Ether Hit Hardest
Crypto markets started the week with a sharp deleveraging event, erasing nearly $900 million in bullish bets as bitcoin (BTC $109,787.53) and ether (ETH) both reversed lower alongside global risk assets.
ETH traders absorbed the largest hit with $320 million in forced liquidations, compared with $277 million tied to bitcoin. Solana (SOL), XRP (XRP $2.9476), and Dogecoin (DOGE $0.2144) contributed another $90 million, Coinglass data showed. The moves followed ETH’s drop from $4,700 to $4,400 and BTC’s retreat to $110,200, mirroring an overnight pullback in the S&P 500.
“This sharp move appears to be the result of overleveraged positioning, particularly following ETH’s recent run-up, and an overnight dip in the S&P 500, which weighed on risk assets more broadly,” Derixe.xyz wrote.
Volatility surged in the aftermath: BTC’s daily vol jumped from 15% to 38%, while ETH spiked from 41% to 70%, according to Derive.xyz. Options flows turned defensive, with 25-delta skew flipping negative — signaling the strongest appetite for downside hedges in two weeks.
Market odds now assign a 35% chance BTC revisits $100,000 by end-September, up from 20% last week, while ETH carries a 55% chance of retesting $4,000. Futures data show record ETH shorts on CME, reflecting hedging flows tied to tokenization trades.
“BTC implied vol collapsed to new lows post-Powell … a surprise given ETH’s IV continues to climb,” said Augustine Fan of SignalPlus.
With U.S. GDP due August 28 and jobs data early September, traders expect more turbulence — with ETH seen as more vulnerable than BTC.
