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Traders Load Up on Nine-Figure Bullish Bitcoin Bets, Raising Liquidation Risks
Heavy leverage in bitcoin derivatives has set up the market for potential downside cascades, with pockets of vulnerability looming if prices break lower.
Sep 12, 2025, 1:45 p.m.
What to know:
- Traders are taking on nine-figure leveraged bullish bitcoin positions, exposing the market to sharp downside risks if prices reverse.
- Data from The Kingfisher shows a cluster of liquidation levels between $113,300 and $114,500 that could spark a cascade back to $110,000 support.
Traders are using leverage in an attempt to lift bitcoin back to record highs, creating a high-risk environment that could result in a derivatives unwind to the downside if price begins to shift the other way.
Market analyst Skew warned one trader intent on opening a nine-figure long position to "maybe wait for spot to carry the buying so it doesn't create toxic flows."
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Bears are also adding leverage, with a separate trader currently dealing with a $7.5 million unrealized loss after shorting BTC to the tune of $234 million with an entry at $111,386. That trader added $10 million worth of stablecoins to maintain their position, with the liquidation currently standing at $121,510.
But the major liquidation risk is present to the downside, with data from The Kingfisher showing a large pocket of derivatives will be liquidated between $113,300 and $114,500, which could potentially prompt a liquidation cascade back to the $110,000 level of support.
"This chart shows where traders are over-leveraged," wrote The Kingfisher. "It's a pain map. Price tends to get sucked into those zones to clear out positions. Use this data so you don't end up on the wrong side of a big move."
Bitcoin is currently trading quietly around $115,000 having entered a period of low volatility, failing to break out of its current range for more than two months.
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Coinbase Sees Crypto Recovery Ahead as Liquidity Improves and Fed Rate Cut Odds Climb
The crypto exchange also took note of a so-called AI bubble that continues to go strong and a weaker U.S. dollar.
What to know:
- Coinbase Institutional is seeing a potential December recovery in crypto, citing improving liquidity and a shift in macroeconomic conditions that could favor risk assets like bitcoin.
- The firm's optimism is driven by rising odds of Federal Reserve rate cuts, with markets pricing in a 93% chance easing next week, and improving liquidity conditions.
- Several recent institutional developments, including Vanguard's crypto ETF policy reversal and Bank of America's greenlighting of crypto allocations, have contributed to bitcoin's rebound from recent lows.
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