Crypto Market Plunges, Wiping Out $1.54 Billion in Leveraged Positions
The cryptocurrency market experienced a significant selloff today, resulting in the liquidation of $1.54 billion in leveraged positions as major digital assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP saw their prices plummet. The broader market capitalization also took a hit, shedding nearly $64 billion and falling to $2.71 trillion. The downturn was primarily attributed to a major security breach and hack reported on the cryptocurrency exchange Binance.
According to data from CoinGlass, a total of 237,314 traders were liquidated over the past 24 hours. Those who bet on rising prices bore the brunt of the losses, with $1.29 billion in forced closures, representing 83.8% of the total liquidations. Short traders also faced substantial losses, with $252.83 million liquidated, accounting for approximately 16.5% of the total.
Binance itself recorded $754.6 million in liquidations, making up 49.2% of the market-wide total. This selloff followed the exchange’s announcement of a security breach, which it estimated affected around $6.3 billion in assets. In response, Binance pledged to cover the losses and temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals while conducting security checks.
Bitcoin and Ethereum Lead Liquidations Amid Price Drops
Bitcoin saw the highest volume of liquidations, with $498.92 million in positions being closed. Long positions constituted 81.2% of these losses as the price of Bitcoin dipped below key psychological levels. Ethereum followed with $359.41 million in liquidations, with 84.6% stemming from long positions. Collectively, Bitcoin and Ether accounted for more than half of all forced closures.
Other significant liquidations included Solana traders losing $82.75 million and XRP liquidations reaching $38.46 million. Further substantial losses were reported for Hyperliquid ($31.71 million), Zcash ($25.21 million), and BNB ($23.42 million).
The price decline exacerbated the market pressure. Bitcoin fell to $76,460 before recovering to trade near $78,500. Ether briefly dropped below $2,200, later trading around $2,240. Solana touched $98, while XRP saw a decline to $1.26.
