Over $460 Million Longs Liquidated in Past Hour as Bitcoin Drops 8% on Spot ETF Delay Rumors

More than $460 million in longs liquidated across the crypto market over the past hour alone after the price of Bitcoin dropped by 8% on rumors that the SEC might delay spot ETF approval.

According to data by CoinGlass, long traders suffered around $462 million in losses across major centralized exchanges over the past hour.

Over the past 24 hours, 172,626 traders have been liquidated, with the total long liquidations coming in at $557 million and short liquidations coming in at around $58 million.

Crypto exchange OKX took the lion’s share of these liquidations at over $230 million, followed by Binance at $105 million and Huobi at around $74 million. 

The bulk amount of liquidations came over the past hour, data by CoinGlass show, with the value of liquidated positions reaching $487 million. 

Bitcoin-tracked futures experienced $110 million in both short and long liquidations over the past day while Ethererum-linked futures saw over $82 million in liquidations. 

Bitcoin Drops to as Low as $40,000 on ETF Delay Rumors

The record level of liquidations comes as the leading cryptocurrency crashed to as low as $40,000 after a report from Matrixport claimed the SEC is poised to reject spot Bitcoin ETF applications this month. “Matrix on Target projects a January rejection for Bitcoin Spot ETFs by the SEC, cautioning traders to hedge long exposure,” the company wrote in a recent post on X (formerly Twitter). 

“With SEC Chair Gensler’s skepticism towards crypto, a potential -20% Bitcoin price drop is anticipated upon ETF denial, though a positive end-of-2024 outlook remains.”

Matrix on Target projects a January rejection for Bitcoin Spot ETFs by the SEC, cautioning traders to hedge long exposure. With #SEC Chair Gensler’s skepticism towards #crypto, a potential -20% #Bitcoin price drop is anticipated upon #ETF denial, though a positive end-of-2024… pic.twitter.com/IgaMhBJtiP

— Matrixport Official English (@Matrixport_EN) January 3, 2024

At the time of writing, the flagship cryptocurrency is trading at $42,379, down by more than 6% over the past day.