A massive $941 million worth of mostly long positions have been liquidated over the past 24 hours, as the crypto market retreated from recent highs.
The market as a whole has undergone a minor pullback of 1.9%, according to CoinGecko, following a mostly bullish week for the top tokens.
On Thursday, the U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI), which tracks price changes of goods and services, jumped 0.9% for July—the largest monthly gain in more than three years. It shocked the market, prompting major cryptocurrencies to decline.
Over the past 24 hours, Bitcoin has slumped by 2.2%, Ethereum has dropped 2.4%, and XRP has fallen by 3.7%. Solana has also dropped by 4.6%, Dogecoin by 3.7%, and Cardano by 3.3%. Only four tokens out of the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap have gained more than a percentage.
“Market turbulence is an inherent part of cryptocurrency markets,” Petr Kozyakov, co-founder and CEO of crypto payment option Mercuryo, told Decrypt. “This is particularly the case across so-called altcoins such as Ethereum and Solana, where we can witness significant daily spikes. This volatility can have a knock-on effect on traders who have taken highly leveraged positions, which can result in significant liquidations.”
With the drop, $803 million worth of long positions were liquidated, according to CoinGlass, as well as $138 million worth of shorts—totalling $941 million across the entire market. The majority of liquidations came via ETH, BTC, and DOGE.
It follows a bullish week for the crypto market, which saw ETH going on an upward tear to $4,776, within touching distance of its 2021 all-time high of $4,878. During ETH’s rally, predictors on Myriad Markets put the chance of the cryptocurrency breaking its record price by the end of the year at 94%. With its recent pullback, Myriad users have retreated from their bullish stance, now putting the chances of a new all-time high for ETH at 89%.
(Disclosure: Myriad is a prediction market developed by Decrypt’s parent company DASTAN.)
“ETH liquidations comprise 32% of the total liquidations as it broke a psychological barrier of [its December 2021 high] at $4,600. This is classic market behaviour, and nothing out of the ordinary,” Max Shannon, a senior research associate at Bitwise, told Decrypt. “ATHs are anchoring levels or reference points for investors. Decisions essentially skew toward ‘sell into strength’ or ‘wait for a pullback,’ making it hard to push through, [which is] often why you see volatility at and around ATHs.”
It has been a painful four years for Ethereum holders, with the cryptocurrency posting middling gains compared to other altcoins like Solana. As such, Shannon suggested that some traders who bought during the 2021 highs may have opted to sell now, just so they can break even.
“From a market dynamic perspective (and not psychological barriers), at around ATHs, stops for shorts and breakout buy-stops cluster just above the ATH,” he added. “While profit-taking limits cluster right below, which can again lead to volatility and potentially create sharp fakeouts before a clean break.”
Dmitry Lapidus, Head of APAC at CoinFund, added that the significant liquidations came as a result of high leverage in the market. With most perp traders using leverage of up to 100x, Lapidus told Decrypt, even a “tiny movement” of just 2–5% can be enough to “wipe out all margin and force a cascade of liquidations.”
“When many traders are heavily positioned in the same direction,” he added, “the market becomes increasingly fragile. So it’s just a representation of leverage, nothing else to it.”