Crypto traders faced the largest liquidation event since early February on Wednesday, after Bitcoin fell below $66,000 and ether dropped under $1,900. CoinGlass data showed $1.84 billion in leveraged positions closed across 24 hours, with long trades taking most of the damage.
Long positions accounted for $1.66 billion of the total liquidations, while short positions made up $180 million. The wipeout marked the largest single-day liquidation event since February 5. A liquidation occurs when an exchange closes a leveraged trade after losses exceed the collateral posted by the trader. Long positions bet on rising prices, while short positions bet on falling prices.
Bitcoin longs absorbed $883.66 million in losses. Ether lost another $475.73 million, while Solana longs saw $91.18 million cleared during the selloff.
The remaining losses spread across HYPE, DOGE, SUI, BNB, NEAR, AAVE, LINK, and the wider top-30 long book. The largest single order was a $59.67 million BTC-USDT long liquidation on HTX.
Binance recorded $748 million in liquidations, equal to about 41% of the total market cascade. Long positions made up 89% of those liquidations on the exchange.
Hyperliquid followed with $314 million in liquidations, with longs accounting for 94% of its total. Bybit logged $247 million, with 93% coming from long positions.
At the same time, Bitcoin open interest rose during the selloff. CoinGlass data showed contract count climbing from about 759,000 BTC to 788,600 BTC.
Rising open interest during a price decline can point to new short positions entering the market. That pattern suggests fresh bearish bets were built while long positions closed.
Retail Bitcoin traders on Binance, OKX, and Bybit continued to lean long after the wipeout. Their long-short ratios stood at 2.22, 2.01, and 1.58, respectively.
In contrast, whale accounts on OKX flipped to a 0.54 long-short ratio. CoinGlass marked that reading as ‘extremely bearish.’ Across the same period, taker volume showed $65.39 billion in sales against $60.16 billion in buys. Sellers acted as the marginal force during the move.
The total crypto market cap chart also showed a bearish structure. Price rejected the major resistance zone near $2.7 trillion, a level that has shifted between support and resistance since 2022.
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This week’s candle fell 6.61%, pulling the market toward the $2.3 trillion support zone. That area acted as resistance in April 2022, then became a consolidation range between March 2024 and October 2024.
The chart also showed a breakdown from the ascending parallel channel that shaped the 2024 and 2025 uptrend. The measured target of that pattern points toward $1.7 trillion.
The Relative Strength Index also turned lower. A descending trendline from March 2024 showed bearish divergence, while the RSI top in May 2026 matched the $2.7 trillion rejection.
Crypto liquidations reached $1.84 billion as Bitcoin and Ether slipped below key levels. Long traders carried most losses, while rising open interest and bearish whale positioning showed fresh pressure. Traders may now watch the $65,000 Bitcoin level and the $2.3 trillion crypto market support zone.