76,341 people liquidated, $144 million evaporated overnight, why have the bulls become "leeks"?

The past 24 hours have witnessed a thrilling “liquidation wave” in the crypto market. According to on-chain data, the total liquidation amount reached $144 million, with long positions liquidated at $111 million and short positions at $33.5362 million. This means that bullish traders suffered far greater losses than bearish traders, with 76,341 traders being liquidated during this volatility. The largest single liquidation occurred on the Hyperliquid platform, amounting to $5.1046 million. This is not just a set of cold numbers but also reflects the high-risk nature of leveraged trading in the current crypto market.

The Imbalance Between Long and Short Positions Behind the Liquidation Data

Long positions dominate the liquidations

The liquidation data over the past 24 hours shows a clear asymmetry. Long positions accounted for $111 million, representing 77% of total liquidations, while short positions were only $33.5362 million, accounting for 23%. This stark ratio indicates a phenomenon: the bullish forces in the market have been severely hit during this wave of volatility.

Specifically, this imbalance is even more evident among mainstream coins:

Bitcoin’s long-to-short liquidation ratio is the most extreme, reaching 9:1, meaning that traders betting on BTC’s rise lost far more than those betting on its decline.

Market background: Price fluctuations trigger liquidations

Looking at BTC’s price performance, it declined 0.59% over the past 24 hours to $95,135. Although the decline isn’t particularly large, in a high-leverage environment, even a 1% move can trigger massive liquidations. Especially when the price breaks below key support levels, stop-loss orders for longs are triggered in succession, creating a liquidation wave.

It is worth noting that BTC still rose 5.11% over the past 7 days, indicating an overall upward market trend, but short-term technical corrections are enough to hit aggressive leveraged longs.

Concentrated Liquidations on Hyperliquid Platform

Rapid Rise of DEX Perpetual Contract Markets

The largest single liquidation occurred on Hyperliquid’s BTC-USD contract, totaling $5.1046 million. This is no coincidence. According to the latest data, Hyperliquid’s open interest has reached $9.65 billion, a nearly three-month high, with a 24-hour trading volume of about $8.82 billion, leading all Perp DEXs.

This reflects a trend: decentralized perpetual contract exchanges are rapidly eroding market share from traditional centralized exchanges. The market share of Perp DEXs increased from 2.1% in January 2023 to 11.7% in November 2025, with trading volume tripling. As a leading platform in this field, Hyperliquid is attracting a large number of high-risk traders.

Whales’ “bottom-fishing” strategies amid volatility

Interestingly, while the liquidation wave was happening, large traders were positioning for bottom-fishing. On-chain monitoring shows that the top ETH long positions on Hyperliquid have placed limit buy orders for 786.85 BTC in the price range of $95,150–$95,381, valued at $74.95 million; simultaneously, they placed limit buy orders for 8,346.78 ETH in the $3,285–$3,300 range, valued at $27.48 million.

This phenomenon indicates a fact: while retail traders are being liquidated, experienced whales are taking advantage of market panic to buy the dip. This reflects both the market risks and opportunities.

Market Risks and Opportunities Coexist

The High Risks of Leverage Trading

A liquidation wave involving 76,341 traders is enough to illustrate the point. On platforms like Hyperliquid, users can trade with high leverage, which greatly amplifies gains but also risks. When the market moves unfavorably, these high-leverage positions are quickly liquidated.

Structural Changes in the Market

The rapid growth of the Perp DEX market means more traders are entering this space. This growth brings liquidity and trading opportunities but also increases risk concentration. When large amounts of capital engage in high-leverage trading on the same platform, any technical fluctuation can trigger a chain reaction.

Personal Perspective

This liquidation wave reveals a “gambler mentality” in the current crypto market—traders overly rely on leverage to magnify returns while neglecting risk management. Among the 76,341 liquidated traders, the vast majority likely overleveraged their positions, set improper stop-losses, or lacked risk awareness altogether. Meanwhile, whales who buy the dip amid volatility are doing so because they have a clear understanding of the risks involved.

Summary

This $144 million liquidation wave reflects two core features of the current crypto derivatives market: first, the extremely high risks of leverage trading, where retail traders without experience or proper risk management are easily liquidated; second, that market opportunities and risks often coexist, with experienced traders exploiting retail panic to position themselves advantageously.

For traders, this is a clear reminder: while pursuing high returns, risk management is fundamental to survival. For market observers, it also indicates that the rapid growth of the DEX perpetual contract market is changing the risk distribution in the crypto space, warranting ongoing attention to its development trends.