A sudden weekend market reversal wiped out over $250 million in leveraged long traders, shifting momentum away from the short squeezes seen earlier in the week. According to CoinGlass data from Aug. 23, total 24-hour crypto long liquidations reached $250.57 million out of $339.73 million in total liquidations.
During a four-hour window around 07:00 UTC, crypto long liquidations hit $101.39 million, accounting for nearly 86% of the window's $118.13 million total. Bitcoin contributed $38.66 million to the four-hour long liquidations and $55.82 million over the 24-hour span. During this period, Bitcoin traded near $76,088, marking a 1.8% decline over the preceding day after previously approaching $80,000, before recovering slightly to near $77,300.
The broader crypto market also experienced significant liquidations. Binance accounted for $65.02 million of all crypto liquidations over a four-hour period, which included $58.64 million in long positions. The largest single liquidation order recorded over 24 hours was an $11.72 million ETHUSDT position on Binance.
Open Interest and Positioning Data
Aggregate Bitcoin futures open interest fell 2.65% over 24 hours to approximately $54.54 billion. Major perpetual funding rates remained near the 0.01% baseline, and the aggregate account long-short ratio stood at 0.9238. Analysts noted that a market reloading with crowded longs typically displays expanding open interest and richer funding, whereas this pullback reflected restrained positioning and a leverage washout rather than longs actively rebuilding.
Spot ETF Flows Provide Counterweight
The derivatives pullback coincided with a weekend closure of US spot Bitcoin ETF creation channels. Farside Investors reported five consecutive sessions of US spot Bitcoin ETF inflows leading up to Friday, including $307.5 million on Aug. 21. The reopening of the US spot Bitcoin ETF channel serves as the next test for spot market demand following the weekend leverage reduction.
