Ether & XRP Get Rekt: $680M Bull Liquidation Bloodbath Leaves Bitcoin Relatively Unscathed

Crypto bulls just got gored—hard. While Bitcoin wobbled, Ether and XRP traders got absolutely demolished in a $680 million liquidation frenzy. Here’s the wreckage.

### The Great Leverage Purge

Liquidation bots went full scorched earth as over-leveraged longs got steamrolled. Ether and XRP positions—apparently the market’s favorite piñatas—took the hardest hits. Bitcoin? Somehow dodged the worst of it (again).

### The $680M Question

Where’s the bottom? With this much carnage, even the ‘buy the dip’ crowd is sweating. Exchanges are littered with margin calls, and that ‘hedge’ you thought was ironclad? About as useful as a screen door on a submarine.

### The Silver Lining (If You Squint)

Volatility like this separates the diamond hands from the leverage junkies. Just remember: Wall Street still thinks we’re gambling. Prove them wrong—or at least fail spectacularly enough to make it entertaining.

While price action across the majors was mostly down by only a few percentage points, the high leverage used by retail traders in altcoins likely amplified their losses. In total, $625.5 million of the liquidations were on long positions, suggesting the selloff caught many bulls off guard after weeks of upward momentum.

Other heavily hit tokens included Solana’s SOL at $41 million, Dogecoin (DOGE) at $40 million, and smaller DeFi tokens like SPK and PUMP seeing over $10 million in positions wiped.

The absence of a clear catalyst and profit-taking NEAR key resistance levels may have exacerbated the selloff. Ether had recently flirted with the $4,000 mark while Bitcoin traded above $118,000 — levels that had already prompted profit booking from larger wallets.

As of writing, ETH is down roughly 3.6% on the day to trade near $3,540, while XRP fell 6% to $3.25, extending its weekly loss to over 12%. Bitcoin fared better, slipping just under 2% to hover around $116,800.

Crypto liquidations occur when Leveraged positions are forcibly closed due to a price move beyond a trader’s margin threshold. This typically results in major losses and can trigger cascade effects during volatile moves.

Traders use liquidation data to gauge market sentiment and positioning. Large long liquidations often signal panic bottoms, while short liquidations may precede a squeeze.

Spikes in liquidations also help identify overcrowded trades and potential reversals. When paired with open interest and funding rate data, liquidation metrics can offer strategic entry or exit points, especially in overleveraged markets prone to sudden flushes or rallies.