Crypto markets were hit by a fresh wave of forced liquidations early Monday as nearly $646 million in leveraged positions were wiped out across major exchanges, adding to the month’s torrid closes and extending losses in bitcoin, ether and large-cap altcoins.
Coinglass data shows that longs accounted for nearly 90% of the total, with the single largest liquidation a $14.48 million ETH-USDC order on Binance.
Binance, Hyperliquid and Bybit each recorded more than $160 million in liquidations, reflecting heavy positioning that broke during the Asian session.
Liquidation refers to when an exchange forcefully closes a trader’s leveraged position due to a partial or total loss of the trader’s initial margin. It occurs when a trader is unable to meet the margin requirements for a leveraged position (does not have sufficient funds to keep the trade open).
A cascade of liquidations often indicates market extremes where a price reversal may be imminent as market sentiment overshoots in one direction.
Bitcoin fell more than 5% to around $86,000, while ether slipped over 6% to near $2,815. Both tokens had attempted a mild recovery at the end of last week, but the forced liquidations pulled prices back towards the lower end of the November range.
Solana, XRP, BNB and Dogecoin fell between 4% and 7% during the same period, while Cardano and Lido Staked Ether had bigger losses. Traders pointed to thin liquidity and persistent macro uncertainty as contributors to the speed of the move.
The market has struggled to stabilize after a rapid decline through late November, when macro cues, ETF outflows and weak weekend volumes combined to unwind weeks of crowded positioning.
Monday’s purge followed the same pattern seen during earlier selloffs this year: heavy long exposure builds into resistance, funding shifts and a cascade of forced sales push major assets down in a matter of hours.
Open interest across BTC and ETH perpetuals fell further after the rout, suggesting that some of the leverage built up during the October rally continues to wash out.
Traders say positioning now looks cleaner, but with risk appetite still fragile, intraday swings are likely to remain high until liquidity improves during the US session.
