Bitcoin swings trigger rare split liquidation as longs and shorts both get hit

Crypto markets delivered a painful lesson in leverage over the past 24 hours, liquidating more than $625 million in positions as sharp price swings punished traders betting in both directions.

According to CoinGlass data, roughly 150,000 traders were forced out of positions, with liquidations split almost evenly between long and short bets. About $306 million in long positions were wiped out, while $319 million in shorts were liquidated, an unusually balanced outcome that reflected how abruptly prices reversed during the session.

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The largest single liquidation occurred on Hyperliquid, where an ETH-USD position worth $40.22 million was forcibly closed. Hyperliquid also accounted for the largest share of total liquidations, with about $220.8 million erased on the platform. Notably, more than 72% of those liquidations were tied to short positions, suggesting traders there were caught leaning too heavily into downside bets just as prices rebounded.

Binance and Bybit also saw heavy activity. Binance recorded roughly $120.8 million in liquidations, skewed toward long positions, while Bybit saw nearly $95 million wiped out, with longs again slightly outweighing shorts.

The liquidation wave unfolded during a session marked by sharp intraday swings in bitcoin, which briefly fell below $88,000 before rebounding toward the $90,000 level.

That move followed heightened macro uncertainty around U.S. trade policy, bond market volatility and shifting expectations tied to President Donald Trump’s appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

For leveraged traders, the combination proved toxic. Early downside momentum triggered long liquidations, accelerating the drop. But as prices snapped back, shorts were quickly caught offside, forcing a second wave of liquidations in the opposite direction. The result was a classic whipsaw that left both sides nursing losses.

Such two-way liquidation events tend to occur when markets are caught between competing narratives, with no clear trend and thin margins for error. In this case, macro headlines drove fast sentiment shifts, while leverage amplified each move.

As traders look ahead, the focus will remain on whether volatility settles or continues to flare. Until clearer direction emerges, the latest liquidation wave suggests that caution, rather than aggressive leverage, may be the smarter trade.