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Long Traders Bear Brunt as Bitcoin, Ether Slide Spurs $220M in Liquidations
Over 90% of all liquidated positions originated from traders betting on even higher prices.
Updated Mar 8, 2024, 4:47 p.m. Published Feb 10, 2023, 9:33 a.m.
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Kraken's settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over its liquid staking platform spurred a market decline, with the impact felt most by futures traders betting on further growth.
Long trades, or bets on higher prices, took 90% of the $220 million in liquidations on crypto futures trading over the past 24 hours as bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) fell nearly 5%. Bitcoin and ether futures cumulatively saw $100 million in liquidations, while futures tracking dogecoin (DOGE), solana (SOL), XRP (XRP) and aptos (APT) took on $4 million in liquidations apiece.
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That's the highest level of liquidations since November for long traders, or those who hold the security directly. Crypto exchange Binance took over $95 million in liquidations, the most among counterparties, with OKX taking $47 million.
Liquidations occur when an exchange forcefully closes a trader’s leveraged position owing to a partial or total loss of the trader’s initial margin. It happens when a trader cannot meet the margin requirements for a leveraged position, that is when they don't have sufficient funds to keep the trade open.
Liquidations data is beneficial for traders as it serves as a signal of leverage being effectively washed out from popular futures products – acting as a short-term indication of a decline in price volatility.
Kraken agreed to “immediately” end its crypto staking-as-a-service platform for U.S. customers and pay $30 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charges it offered unregistered securities.
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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.
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Bitcoin slips below $88,000 ahead of Fed week and Big Tech earnings
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What to know:
- Bitcoin fell below $88,000 in thin weekend trading, extending a weeklong pullback that has left most major cryptocurrencies sharply lower.
- Market sentiment remains fragile after more than $1 billion in leveraged crypto positions were liquidated amid recent volatility in currencies and bond markets.
- Traders are watching potential Japanese yen intervention, U.S. political brinkmanship over a spending bill and a heavy tech-earnings calendar, as the Federal Reserve is expected to keep interest rates unchanged.
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