Crypto Liquidations Reach $436.44 Million, With Long Positions Accounting for $404.15 Million
Key Facts
Crypto market liquidations totaled $436.44 million in the four hours ending at 1 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturday, October 24, including $404.15 million in long positions, according to CoinGlass data cited by The Block. The liquidation wave coincided with bitcoin falling to around $79,280 at about 11:20 a.m., before rising to $80,138 by 1 p.m. The figures mean that positions betting on rising prices made up most of those forcibly closed during the period. In the four-hour window between 8 a.m. and noon, liquidations of long positions totaled $401.91 million. That was the highest total for this period since the night of October 14, when long-position liquidations reached $505.57 million, according to CoinGlass data.
Liquidations came in two brief waves during the morning. Long positions worth $208.21 million were liquidated over 15 minutes starting at 10:15 a.m. Eastern Time, followed by another $131.17 million in liquidations over 15 minutes starting at 11:15 a.m. Closures spanned more than one asset and platform: ether liquidations totaled $136.72 million over the four-hour period, compared with $158.45 million for bitcoin. Long positions accounted for 92.7% of ether liquidations and 94.2% of bitcoin liquidations. On Binance, liquidations totaled $226.07 million, 96% of them in long positions; Hyperliquid recorded $70.47 million, 99.8% of them in long positions.
Over the 24 hours through the time of publication, crypto liquidations reached $815.26 million, up 218% from the previous day, and affected 201,012 traders, according to CoinGlass data cited by The Block. Over the same period, open interest in crypto futures fell 2.2% to $140.10 billion. These figures reflect liquidations extending beyond the four-hour window in which the morning wave was concentrated. In the context of bitcoin’s movement during the month, an Investing.com report said it had traded within a range between $80,000 and $87,000 that had held during the previous month. The report said pressure on technology stocks and rising oil prices had affected risk appetite, and noted that anticipation of results from major technology companies and central bank meetings in the following week had added to market caution.
Spot bitcoin funds recorded outflows on Thursday and Friday, but these came after inflows of $1.078 billion from Monday through Wednesday, according to SoSoValue data cited by The Block. As a result, the funds’ net flows remained positive at $304.73 million for the week ended October 23. On Friday alone, $110.34 million flowed out of IBIT and $31.78 million from FBTC, while a $4.19 million inflow into MSBT offset part of those outflows. Net assets in spot bitcoin funds stood at $104.43 billion on Friday, and their total assets remained nearly stable during the week. Spot ether funds recorded net inflows of $4.35 million on Friday, but ended the week with net outflows of $220.60 million.
EL7 data showed bitcoin closed at $81,189.43 on October 23 and then at $80,271.35 on October 24, meaning the daily close on both days remained above $80,000 despite the intraday drop below that level. Separately, an Investing.com report said spot bitcoin funds attracted $442.7 million through October 22, their best week since late September, but the inflows did not translate into clear price strength. In two posts on X, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes said he had closed the directional positions in his family office, Maelstrom, and wrote: "I sold everything." He added that he believed the market could fall before rising, described economic and geopolitical conditions as "a bit worrying," and said he would wait for a clearer signal before returning. Against the backdrop of recent liquidation waves, EL7 published a story on October 10 about $19 billion in liquidations as bitcoin fell from a record high of $126,000.