Crypto Carnage: $600M+ BTC & ETH Longs Obliterated in Leverage Massacre

Bloodbath on the blockchain—over-leveraged bulls get steamrolled as Bitcoin and Ethereum liquidations top $600 million.

Liquidity guillotine drops

Exchanges executed margin calls with surgical precision, wiping out over-optimistic positions in minutes. The usual suspects—overconfidence, tight stop-loss clustering, and that classic crypto volatility—left traders nursing seven-figure losses.

DeFi degens: 'This is fine'

Meanwhile, yield farmers keep stacking sats between sips of latte, blissfully ignoring the wreckage. 'Just another Tuesday in crypto,' shrugs one anonymous degen while adjusting his 50x leveraged long.

Wall Street analysts promptly downgraded crypto to 'speculative trash'—right after closing their own underwater ETH calls.

Liquidations Trigger Speculation on Crypto’s Next Phase

According to Maartunn, the past 24 hours delivered one of the harshest blows to overleveraged traders this year. Data shows that $189 million in Bitcoin longs were liquidated, alongside an even larger $408 million in ethereum longs, bringing the total wiped out positions close to $600 million. This wave of liquidations happened within hours, highlighting just how fragile sentiment can be when leverage builds up across major assets.

The sudden sell-off sent shockwaves through the market, forcing bulls to retreat as Bitcoin slipped under the $115K level and Ethereum dropped below $4,500. Traders who had built aggressive long positions in anticipation of continued upside quickly found themselves on the losing side, as cascading liquidations amplified the decline. Such events are not uncommon in crypto, but the size and speed of this move have left investors reassessing the short-term landscape.

Now, speculation is heating up about what comes next. Some analysts argue this was nothing more than a leverage reset, a necessary purge to clear excessive speculation and allow the market to build a healthier foundation for the next leg upward. Others are less optimistic, viewing the event as a potential trigger for a corrective stage, where broader selling pressure could drag prices lower before any recovery.

What’s clear is that the market has entered a new phase of uncertainty. Investors are watching closely for whether fresh demand steps in to stabilize prices, or if further selling pressure forces a deeper pullback. Until clarity emerges, volatility is likely to dominate.

Total Crypto Market Cap Analysis

The total cryptocurrency market cap has experienced a sharp pullback, currently sitting around $3.83 trillion after a 3.3% daily decline. The chart highlights the rejection near the $4 trillion mark, a key psychological resistance level that has repeatedly capped upward moves in recent weeks. Despite this setback, the market remains well above its medium-term supports, suggesting the broader uptrend is still intact.

Looking at the moving averages, the 50-day SMA (~$3.87T) is being tested, and a decisive close below could open the door to further downside toward the 100-day SMA (~$3.68T). However, as long as the market holds above this zone, the bullish structure remains valid. The 200-day SMA (~$3.31T) continues to provide a strong foundation for the longer-term trend, showing that the bull market context remains strong.

This recent drop reflects the heavy liquidations across BTC and ETH longs, which have rippled through altcoins, increasing volatility across the board. If the market stabilizes above $3.8T, it could set the stage for another attempt at breaking $4T. Conversely, a deeper breakdown below $3.7T may shift momentum, signaling a potential corrective phase in the short term.

Featured image from Dall-E, chart from TradingView