Nearly $483 million in Bitcoin and Ether futures positions were liquidated within 24 hours on Thursday as a broader crypto market decline hit leveraged traders, with Ether-related closures accounting for the larger share.
The sell-off deepened amid uncertainty about the Federal Reserve’s next interest-rate decision. Bitcoin traded near $81,000, falling approximately 3% over 24 hours, while Ether dropped more than 6% to around $2,350. XRP and Solana’s SOL declined roughly 5%, and Dogecoin lost about 6%.
CoinGlass figures reviewed during Asian morning trading showed that Ether futures liquidations reached approximately $286 million, exceeding Bitcoin’s $197 million. Ether fell around 6.4% to $2,356, while Bitcoin slipped about 3.2% to approximately $81,000.
Liquidations occur when leveraged traders can no longer maintain the collateral required to support their positions after prices move against them. Exchanges then automatically close the affected trades. For example, a trader who uses $1,000 to control a $10,000 position may face liquidation following a relatively modest adverse price move, depending on leverage and the platform’s margin requirements.
When multiple positions are forcibly closed during a downturn, the resulting transactions can accelerate market volatility. Falling prices can trigger liquidations of leveraged long positions, creating additional selling pressure and pushing prices lower.
Ether accounted for a greater volume of liquidations than Bitcoin despite having a smaller futures market. Open interest in Ether futures stood at approximately $30 billion, compared with around $52 billion for Bitcoin futures.
The liquidation totals measure the value of positions that exchanges forcibly closed, not the exact amount traders lost from their own funds. Actual losses vary according to each position’s collateral, leverage and execution price.
Other cryptocurrencies were affected as well. Solana futures recorded approximately $31 million in liquidations as SOL declined around 5.5%. Zcash futures added nearly $19 million in liquidations, while ZEC fell approximately 13%.
