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Crypto derivatives traders saw a fresh wave of forced liquidations over the past day, with data suggesting a largely two-sided washout overall but a sharp, short-lived burst of ‘short squeeze’ dynamics in the most recent hours.

Across the last 24 hours, roughly $176.17 million in leveraged positions were liquidated in the cryptocurrency market, based on aggregated ticker-level figures. Long liquidations totaled about $89.45 million, edging out short liquidations at around $86.72 million—close to evenly split, indicating no overwhelming directional consensus during the period.

That balance shifted materially in the most recent four-hour window. Exchange-by-exchange data showed $13.11 million in liquidations, dominated by shorts at $11.55 million, or 88.07% of the total. The concentration of short liquidations points to upward price pressure—however modest—being sufficient to push over-leveraged bearish positions past margin thresholds, accelerating a reflexive rebound.

Binance led liquidations over the past four hours with $5.34 million, representing 40.75% of the total, and shorts accounted for $4.41 million (82.51%). Bybit followed with $3.14 million, where short liquidations made up an even more pronounced 94.92%. Gate posted $1.75 million, OKX recorded $1.30 million, and Bitget saw about $0.98 million. Notably, Hyperliquid and Lighter registered 100% of their reported liquidations on the short side, reinforcing the view that the latest move was driven more by a squeeze in bearish positioning than by a broad risk-off selloff.

By asset, Bitcoin (BTC) remained the focal point of liquidation activity. BTC traded around $118,000, up roughly 0.3% over 24 hours, yet liquidation flows were heavy on both sides: in the past hour, about $13.16 million in longs and $11.25 million in shorts were liquidated; over four hours, $53.49 million in longs and $51.33 million in shorts; and over 24 hours, $61.78 million in longs versus $60.68 million in shorts. Separate heatmap-style readings also placed BTC at the highest liquidation intensity over 24 hours, at roughly $18.99 million.

Ethereum (ETH) was comparatively steady near $3,297, but still posted notable derivatives cleaning. Over 24 hours, ETH liquidations totaled roughly $0.99 million on the long side and $0.89 million on the short side. In the 24-hour liquidation heatmap, ETH ranked second behind BTC at about $10.98 million, underscoring how liquidations remain concentrated in the market’s two largest benchmark assets even when spot moves appear contained.

Among major altcoins, Solana (SOL) showed relative strength, rising about 1.9% over 24 hours to $170.67. SOL recorded approximately $0.19 million in long liquidations and $0.18 million in short liquidations over the day, while heatmap figures showed about $1.92 million in liquidation intensity. XRP traded around $2.474, up 1.1%, though its liquidation mix was more mixed. Dogecoin (DOGE) rose 0.8% to $0.1972, with short liquidations (~$84,590) exceeding long liquidations (~$53,640). DOGE also logged a relatively elevated heatmap figure of about $1.59 million, consistent with persistent ‘meme coin’ volatility and leverage-driven whipsaws.

One of the more unusual standouts was Zcash (ZEC). Despite only a modest 0.5% gain over 24 hours to $163.3, ZEC registered around $3.94 million on the 24-hour liquidation heatmap—surpassing SOL and DOGE. The divergence between muted spot performance and elevated liquidation intensity suggests leverage positioning may have become unusually crowded relative to liquidity, leaving traders vulnerable to incremental price moves.

Less prominent tokens also saw meaningful liquidation spikes, including AIA at roughly $2.04 million and UB at around $1.45 million on heatmap data. While these assets sit outside the core majors, the activity may indicate short-term dislocations in positioning and thinner order books amplifying forced unwinds.

Overall, the session’s defining feature was not a large spot-market drawdown—most tracked assets moved within a relatively narrow range of roughly -0.3% to +1.9% over 24 hours—but rather a derivatives-led reset. The data suggest a market that stayed broadly range-bound in aggregate, yet became briefly vulnerable to upside squeezes as bearish leverage accumulated and then unwound quickly during a rebound attempt.

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