Short Liquidations Top $70M as Bitcoin Holds $100K

Crypto derivatives traders saw $106.47 million in forced position closures over the past day. Shorts took the heavier hit, with $70.04 million liquidated against $36.43 million in longs, according to CoinGlass data. That 65.8% short share suggests traders betting on a deeper selloff got caught as major tokens held firm or staged mild rebounds.

In the most recent four-hour window, total liquidations reached $30.38 million. Binance accounted for $14.34 million, or 47.19% of the total. The exchange's liquidations were dominated by longs at $11.18 million, or 77.99%. Hyperliquid followed with $4.61 million, OKX with $3.81 million, and Bybit with $3.01 million. Most venues saw long liquidations as the majority. HTX showed a slight tilt toward shorts at 51.83%. CoinEx posted an even higher short share at 68.99%, pointing to localized short-squeeze pressure during a brief upswing. Aster stood out for extreme one-sidedness, with about 98.46% of its roughly $465,000 in liquidations coming from long positions.

Bitcoin and Ethereum remained the center of the liquidation heatmap. Over 24 hours, Bitcoin saw $72.17 million in liquidations. Ethereum recorded $61.99 million. Other assets collectively accounted for around $23.17 million, with notable altcoin liquidations including VELVET at $10.09 million, XYZ:CL at $8.67 million, Solana at $7.98 million, and BEAT at $6.05 million.

Bitcoin traded at $100,071, up about 0.13% over 24 hours. Liquidation splits suggested a sharp short-covering impulse during the intraday move. In the past hour, short liquidations of roughly $37.79 million exceeded long liquidations of about $26.45 million. Over the full 24-hour period, CoinGlass data showed short liquidations near $31.01 million versus around $7.64 million for longs. That reinforces the view that a meaningful share of the price resilience came from forced exits among bearish traders.

Ethereum traded around $3,467, down about 0.74% on the day. It still registered an intense burst of short liquidations in shorter time frames. Over a four-hour window, ETH shorts liquidated for roughly $42.29 million, far above long liquidations near $12.46 million. That suggests volatility accelerated even as spot direction remained mixed.

Among major altcoins, Solana rose about 1.57% to $167.1. XRP gained roughly 1.78% to $2.31. Sui outperformed with a 4.15% advance. Dogecoin climbed about 1.13% to $0.3474. Dogecoin's liquidation profile leaned heavily toward shorts, with about $23,170 in short liquidations versus roughly $6,590 in long liquidations over 24 hours. That suggests upside moves were amplified by short covering rather than broad, unlevered demand.

Zcash fell about 1.89%. CL dropped roughly 4.19%, making it one of the weaker performers among widely tracked names. CL's presence near the top of the liquidation rankings, at around $8.67 million, implied that price weakness coincided with elevated leverage stress.

Smaller tokens also showed pockets of leverage-driven churn. OPAT recorded liquidations of about $84,080 in longs and $71,010 in shorts over the past hour. Over 24 hours, it showed roughly $75,540 in longs against $94,870 in shorts. Those are relatively high figures for a non-major token and a sign that leverage was concentrated in thinner markets.

Liquidations occur when leveraged traders can no longer meet margin requirements and exchanges force-close positions, often accelerating price moves. With shorts making up the bulk of the day's liquidations across tickers, the near-term risk has shifted toward sudden rebound-driven squeezes, even as leading assets send mixed directional signals.