Share this article
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.
Make us preferred on Google
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."
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
$BTC
— Skew Δ (@52kskew) September 12, 2025
To the random 9 figure whale apeing into longs
maybe wait for spot to carry the buying so it doesn't create toxic flows pic.twitter.com/GOi1GZazl0
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.
More For You
KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
More For You
Bitcoin and ether volatility trading gets easier with Polymarket's new contracts
Polymarket has launched new prediction markets tied to Volmex's bitcoin and ether 30-day implied volatility indices.
What to know:
- Polymarket has launched new prediction markets tied to Volmex's bitcoin and ether 30-day implied volatility indices, allowing users to bet on how high volatility will get in 2026.
- The contracts pay out if volatility indices reach or exceed a preset level by Dec. 31, 2026, letting traders wager on the intensity of price swings rather than market direction.
- Early trading implies roughly a one-in-three chance that bitcoin and ether volatility will nearly double from current levels.
Top Stories
