Crypto markets saw a sharp leverage reset over the past 24 hours, with more than $584 million in positions liquidated, as heavily skewed long positioning was forced out amid thin liquidity and fragile risk sentiment.
Bitcoin and major altcoins fell throughout U.S. trading hours as macro uncertainty continued to pressure risk assets. Many crypto-related stocks, including leaders Coinbase and Strategy, posted deeper slumps than crypto itself.
AI-linked stocks, such as Broadcom and Oracle continue to reel from soft earnings results last week, as CoinDesk reported earlier Monday.
Data shows 181,893 traders were liquidated, with long positions accounting for over 87% of total losses — a clear sign that the move was driven less by fresh bearish catalysts and more by the market’s inability to sustain crowded bullish bets.
Bitcoin and ether led the wipeout, posting $174.3 million and $189 million in liquidations respectively, according to liquidation heatmap data. The largest single liquidation order was a $11.58 million BTCUSDT position that occurred on Binance.
Binance, Bybit and Hyperliquid together accounted for nearly three-quarters of total liquidations, with Hyperliquid standing out for the severity of the imbalance: 98% of liquidated positions on the venue were longs, underscoring how aggressively traders were positioned heading into the move.
The liquidation event unfolded without a major headline catalyst, reinforcing a broader theme that has defined recent market action: low conviction rallies built on leverage rather than spot demand are proving increasingly fragile.
Market participants say the structure of the wipeout resembles a classic liquidity sweep rather than panic selling. Prices pushed just far enough below key intraday support levels to trigger cascading stop-losses and forced liquidations, before stabilizing — a pattern typical of range-bound or late-cycle conditions.
“The market remains extremely sensitive to positioning,” said one derivatives trader. “When leverage stacks up on one side, it doesn’t take much to force a reset — especially in holiday-thinned conditions.”
Altcoins also saw forced selling, though at smaller scale. Solana recorded $34.5 million in liquidations, while XRP and Dogecoin posted $14.5 million and $11.8 million, respectively. The concentration of losses in majors suggests institutions and larger traders bore the brunt of the move, rather than retail speculation alone.
Despite the scale of the liquidations, spot prices avoided a broader breakdown, reinforcing the view that the event reflected positioning excesses, not a decisive shift in market trend.
Still, traders caution that repeated long-heavy flushes point to deteriorating market structure. Until leverage cools and spot-led demand returns, volatility is likely to remain skewed to the downside — with rallies vulnerable to abrupt reversals.
Source: https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2025/12/16/bitcoin-ai-stock-slide-sees-over-usd500-million-in-bullish-bets-wiped-out
