Around $350 million in long positions were forcefully liquidated in just 10 minutes as Bitcoin and Ethereum breached their respective support levels. The cascade widened total crypto market liquidations to nearly $483 million - roughly Rp7.6 trillion - over the past 24 hours. This time, futures contracts on the two largest assets dominated the liquidations, rather than speculative altcoins.
Ten Minutes That Wiped Out $350 Million
Ethereum traders bore the brunt of the damage, accounting for nearly 60% of total liquidations across the top two crypto assets. The price of ETH plunged over 6% toward the $2,350 range, triggering massive forced liquidations on piled-up futures contracts. In the derivatives market, open interest for Ethereum stood at $30 billion, while Bitcoin held $52 billion.
Bitcoin itself corrected by around 3%, slipping below the psychological $81,000 level amid monetary policy uncertainty. As the two market leaders weakened simultaneously, liquidations spilled over into other assets. Solana futures recorded $31 million in liquidations after SOL fell 5.5%. Zcash suffered a steeper 13% correction, forcing the liquidation of nearly $19 million in positions.
Among the thousands of accounts hit by margin calls, the most notable loss struck high-profile trader Machi Big Brother (@machibigbrother). His portfolio was completely wiped out. An account that he originally built from an initial $56,000 into $12.25 million over four months plummeted drastically, leaving behind just $21,800.
Macro Pressures from Seoul to Washington
The crypto market downturn coincided with a broader sell-off in risk assets across traditional financial markets. In South Korea, the benchmark KOSPI index sank 8% in a single trading session. That sharp decline triggered a 20-minute circuit breaker to halt trading and curb investor panic.
In the United States, uncertainty over the Federal Reserve’s interest rate trajectory was the primary driver of market caution. A 3.7% CPI inflation reading briefly pushed the implied odds of a Fed rate hike at the October meeting to 47%-50% on CME FedWatch and Polymarket. Although those projections later cooled back down to the 26%-30% range, fluctuating rate expectations had already rattled crypto market sentiment.
The Fine Line Between Massive Gains and Total Wipeout
The buildup of tens of billions of dollars in futures contracts proves that high leverage always accelerates a collapse when price trends reverse. A 3% to 6% correction is routine in spot trading, but in derivatives markets, a move of that scale is enough to trigger hundreds of millions of dollars in cascading liquidations within minutes.
Machi Big Brother’s $12 million loss serves as a stark reminder for market participants: months of accumulated gains can vanish in hours when leverage risks are ignored amid tightening liquidity.
Reported by CoinDesk.
Also read: How to Read Candlestick Charts for Beginners
Also read: $803 Million in Leveraged Bets Wiped Out in a Day - SanDisk Token Liquidations Surpass XRP
Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only, not financial advice. Cryptocurrency assets are highly volatile and carry significant risk. Always do your own research (DYOR) and never invest more than you can afford to lose.
