Crypto Longs Hit: $563M Liquidated in 24 Hours as Ether, Bitcoin Slide

A sharp pullback in crypto prices triggered a wave of forced deleveraging over the past day, with leveraged bulls bearing the brunt. Coinglass data show exchanges liquidated $563 million in long (bullish) crypto futures positions in the last 24 hours, compared with $65 million in short liquidations. It was the largest single-day liquidation event since the Feb. 6 crash, underscoring how crowded long positioning had become. Ether led the unwind, accounting for $244 million of long liquidations, while bitcoin added roughly $160 million. The move followed a volatile week: bitcoin hovered around $77,000, down about 5% for the week ended May 17, and ether fell about 10% to around $2,129 at the time of writing. Liquidations occur when leveraged traders can no longer meet margin requirements and exchanges automatically close positions. Because futures trades are posted with only a fraction of the notional as collateral, losses can compound quickly. When long positions are forced closed into a falling market, the resulting sell orders can add to downside pressure. The latest bout of selling has been linked to hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data and a subsequent rise in Treasury yields. As yields climb across the U.S. and other developed markets, zero-yield, risk-on assets such as bitcoin and ether can become less attractive, feeding risk-off flows and stressing leveraged bets. The drop came even as the Clarity Act, a bill aimed at establishing a broad U.S. regulatory framework for digital assets, cleared the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday and moved closer to a full Senate vote. The contrast highlights that regulatory momentum can help sentiment, but it does not insulate highly leveraged markets from macro shocks. The takeaway: crowded leverage can unwind fast when macro conditions shift, leaving traders exposed to both leverage risk and broader volatility even amid constructive policy developments.