$1.25 Billion in Crypto Positions Liquidated as Bitcoin Falls 6%
Key Facts
Crypto position liquidations totaled $1.25 billion in the 24 hours through the Nov. 6 report, affecting 239,119 traders, according to The Crypto Times. At 06:00 UTC, Bitcoin stood at $75,649.64, down 6.0% over 24 hours. During that period, the price ranged between $75,229.51 and $80,721.32. Liquidation details showed that bullish bets bore most of the losses, in a wave that coincided with broad selling in U.S. technology stocks. The timing places digital assets within a broader decline in risk appetite across markets.
Long positions accounted for $1.11 billion of liquidations, or 88.6% of the total, compared with $141.87 million for short positions, or 11.4%, according to the report. The distribution means most forced liquidations hit traders who had bet on prices rising. Bitcoin led assets with $329.57 million in liquidations, including $297.88 million in long positions, equal to 90.4% of its liquidations. Ethereum followed with $210.27 million in total liquidations, of which long positions made up 85.2%. The figures show that pressure was concentrated in bullish bets on the two largest cryptocurrencies during the report window.
Liquidations were also distributed across trading platforms, with Binance accounting for 45.2% of the total, according to The Crypto Times. The largest single liquidation was a $10.94 million long position in the ETH/USDT pair on the platform, closed at $2,243.86. The size of the trade offers an example of how price moves affect leveraged positions, alongside the large totals recorded across the market. The liquidations coincided with Bitcoin retreating from higher levels within its range over the previous 24 hours. The market thus saw liquidations spanning bets on major assets and large individual positions.
In the U.S. stock market, the Nasdaq fell 5.5% on Nov. 5, while the S&P 500 declined 4.4% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 3.4%, according to the Associated Press. The agency said the S&P 500's loss erased the previous session's gains, which had been the index's best in three months, and marked its steepest drop since April 2025. AP linked the selloff to shares of companies involved in building AI data centers and concerns that restrictions on those centers could be imposed after Democratic victories in the midterm elections. The declines extended to Asia on Nov. 6, with Tokyo and Seoul indexes each falling 6%. Crypto liquidations were thus surrounded by selling in U.S. and Asian equities in consecutive sessions.
Price pressure coincided with a reversal in flows to U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin funds. The funds recorded net outflows of $430.2 million on Nov. 5, after net inflows of $74.6 million the previous day, according to CoinDesk. Weekly net redemptions reached $869.8 million through Thursday. CoinDesk quoted Simon Peter Masabni of XS.com as saying asset managers may “liquidate alternative holdings to meet margin calls and reduce leverage in portfolios.” That offers a possible explanation for how pressure in other markets can spill over into digital assets through margin requirements, alongside outflows from the funds.
U.S. jobs data released on Nov. 6 showed nonfarm payrolls increased by 165,000 in October, while the unemployment rate was 4.1% and little changed during the month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The increase exceeded the average monthly gain of 48,000 jobs over the previous 12 months. The bureau also revised up its estimates for August and September gains by a combined 84,000 jobs. The bureau's schedule had set the jobs report release for Nov. 6 at 08:30 a.m. Eastern Time and the October Consumer Price Index release for Nov. 10 at the same time. The Federal Reserve calendar lists its next meeting for Dec. 8 and 9, without setting a date for a press conference or a decision on a specific day.