Key Notes
- The crypto market saw nearly $1 billion in liquidations over 24 hours, impacting over 230,000 traders and wiping out leveraged long positions.
- Ethereum led the sell-off with over $311 million in liquidations.In comparison, Bitcoin followed with $245 million in forced closures from bullish traders.
- The crash was fueled by market exhaustion, as slowing ETF inflows and heavy profit-taking by long-term holders created a fragile market structure.
A sharp downturn in the crypto market has triggered nearly $1 billion in liquidations over the past 24 hours, impacting more than 226,000 traders. Most of these forced closures involved long positions, significantly damaging recent bullish sentiment.
According to data from analytics platform CoinGlass , the total value of liquidated positions reached $966 million over the 24 hours from Sept. 25, 12 pm UTC to Sept. 26, 12 pm UTC.
The event heavily penalized bullish traders, with long positions accounting for $843.07 million. In contrast, short positions comprised just $122.93 million of the forced closures.
The sell-off occurred in a market already showing signs of exhaustion after a recent rally. The combination of slowing spot ETF inflows and significant profit-taking from long-term holders had created a “fragile balance” in the market.
As prices dipped, they entered what economist Alex Krüger calls the “$108-110k Desperate Zone,” a level where he notes leveraged traders are often forced to dump their positions.
This deleveraging event ultimately triggered the cascade of forced liquidations for bullish traders.
108-110 is the Desperate Zone, where people who are levered up or have no conviction dump (alts in particular)
— Alex Krüger (@krugermacro) September 25, 2025
Ethereum leads liquidations as major cryptos suffer
Ethereum ETH $3 940 24h volatility: 1.6% Market cap: $475.55 B Vol. 24h: $54.34 B spearheaded the market deleveraging with a staggering $311 million total liquidations.
The pain was concentrated on bullish traders, who saw over $271 million in long positions forcibly closed. Bitcoin BTC $108 994 24h volatility: 2.1% Market cap: $2.17 T Vol. 24h: $71.04 B was the second-most affected asset with approximately $245 million in liquidations.
This event continues a trend of sharp sell-offs that have defined the market recently, with Bitcoin’s long positions accounting for over $235 million.
Crypto liquidation heatmap showing Ethereum and Bitcoin leading with the highest losses. ~ Source: coinglass.com
The pain was felt across the broader altcoin market as well. Solana SOL $195.3 24h volatility: 3.5% Market cap: $106.14 B Vol. 24h: $11.44 B traders saw over $66 million in positions closed.
At the same time, other significant assets like XRP XRP $2.72 24h volatility: 4.0% Market cap: $162.70 B Vol. 24h: $9.18 B and Dogecoin DOGE $0.23 24h volatility: 2.2% Market cap: $34.21 B Vol. 24h: $3.73 B also faced significant pressure, with each seeing approximately $20 million in liquidations.
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