Crypto Liquidations Hit $164M as Long Positions Take the Hit

Crypto liquidations reached approximately $164 million in a 24-hour snapshot reported on October 1, with leveraged long positions taking the larger hit. PANews, citing CoinGlass, put long-side liquidations at $107 million. Phemex republished the figures in a brief market update.

The imbalance shows that bullish positions faced more forced unwinding in that window. It does not establish the cause of the price moves, and it offers no guarantee that selling has finished. Shorts were caught as well, leaving a more complicated picture than a straightforward liquidation of bullish bets.

Crypto liquidations: what the $164 million snapshot contains

Long and short totals describe trade direction; Bitcoin and Ethereum totals describe assets. They are different breakdowns of the same snapshot and must not be added together.

Using the sum of the published long and short figures, longs made up roughly 65% of the side breakdown and were about 1.86 times the short total. That sum is about $164.4 million. The headline uses a rounded total, so the small difference is a precision issue rather than evidence of an additional liquidation category.

Longs accounted for approximately two-thirds of the reported side breakdown. Original Bitnxt chart using the reported CoinGlass figures; this is a snapshot comparison, not a price chart or time series.

The ZEC order was the largest single event, not the largest asset total

Phemex highlighted Bitcoin at approximately $23.94 million and Ethereum at $21.34 million. It also reported the biggest individual liquidation order on Hyperliquid’s ZEC-USD market, at roughly $3.14 million.

A single order and an asset’s aggregate liquidations answer different questions. The ZEC order does not mean Zcash exceeded Bitcoin’s total, and the report does not identify the trader, leverage setting or direction of that order. Those details should not be guessed.

Why leverage can turn a price move into forced trading

A liquidation occurs when a position or account no longer meets the venue’s maintenance-margin requirements. Hyperliquid’s documentation says it first attempts to close positions through market orders on the order book. Positions can be closed fully or partially, and the trader may retain remaining collateral when the required margin condition is restored.

That process explains how a decline can generate additional selling from long positions: the risk system reduces exposure regardless of whether the trader wants to hold. Short liquidations can produce buying in the opposite direction. Whether that flow significantly moves the market depends on available liquidity and other orders.

Hyperliquid uses a mark price that combines external exchange prices with its own book state. Bybit’s isolated-margin rules likewise use the mark price to trigger liquidation. A venue’s liquidation trigger can therefore differ from the last price visible on a trading chart.

An example makes the margin problem clearer

Consider a simplified linear futures position worth $10,000, backed by $1,000 of initial margin at 10x leverage. A 5% adverse price move creates roughly $500 of unrealized loss before fees and funding. The market has moved only 5%, but half the starting margin has been consumed.

This is an illustration, not a reconstruction of an October 1 trade or an exact liquidation threshold. Maintenance-margin rules, contract design and margin mode affect when a position is closed. A reported liquidation value also should not be treated as an equal amount of investor cash lost: position exposure and collateral are different quantities.

Julio Moreno’s warning puts demand back in focus

The liquidation report followed signs that the buying behind Bitcoin’s earlier rally was losing momentum. In September 30 coverage of CryptoQuant’s research, CoinDesk attributed a concise warning to Julio Moreno, the firm’s head of research:

“Without fresh demand, rallies struggle to extend.”

CoinDesk reported that CryptoQuant’s apparent spot-demand measure had contracted, while growth in speculative futures demand had slowed. CryptoQuant’s own public update also flagged profit-taking and signs of fatigue despite its continuing bull-market assessment.

Moreno’s comment concerns the broader demand backdrop. It was not a response to this specific $164 million report, and it does not prove which traders or market catalysts caused the liquidations.

For the context behind those indicators, read Bitnxt’s Bitcoin Bull Score and cooling-demand analysis.

The subsequent rebound is a reminder that these snapshots expire

By October 2, QCP’s market commentary described Bitcoin breaking out of its recent consolidation range and reaching $86,913. The trading firm interpreted the move as being supported more by cash demand than leverage, based in part on perpetual-futures funding.

That later assessment belongs to a different market moment. It does not invalidate the October 1 liquidation report, but it shows why an older rolling-window total cannot be presented as a live reading of today’s pressure. QCP also cautioned that flows can change quickly.

Source: QCP October 2 analysis

Bitnxt’s related coverage of Bitcoin ETF flows and the market near $84,000 examines another part of the demand picture. ETF flows and futures liquidations measure different activity and should be evaluated on their own dated windows.

Bitnxt view: watch what happens after the forced exits

Our reading is that the long-heavy split reveals vulnerability in leveraged bullish positioning. The next question is whether buyers can absorb the selling and sustain a recovery without immediately rebuilding the same pressure.

A liquidation flush can remove some fragile positions. It can also be followed by renewed selling or by a rapid reversal that catches shorts. Neither outcome is predetermined by the size of the first reported wave.

For Bitnxt, the stronger sign of resilience would be steadier spot buying alongside funding and open interest that do not become excessively stretched. The weaker signal would be repeated price failure accompanied by fresh long liquidations. Those are conditions to monitor, rather than conclusions already established by the October 1 numbers.

This report is for information. Cryptocurrency derivatives carry substantial risk.