Ethereum Liquidations Surge Past $294M as ETH Nears Record High—Brace for Volatility
Ethereum's rocket ride isn't coming without casualties. As ETH flirts with new all-time highs, over-leveraged traders are getting obliterated—$294 million in liquidations so far. Who said decentralized finance couldn't have old-fashioned margin calls?
Blood in the water. The liquidation cascade hit hardest when ETH pierced $4,800—a level that apparently broke too many overconfident longs. Exchanges reported forced position closures across perpetual swaps and lending platforms. Turns out when 'number go up' reverses, gravity still works.
The irony? This purge comes just as institutional money floods into ETH ETFs. Wall Street's latest crypto darling keeps mooning while retail traders get rekt—some things never change in finance. Next stop: either $5K or the liquidation engine starts chewing through another $200 million in positions. Buckle up.
Ethereum sits just below all-time high
The sharp focus on Ethereum has only escalated as the token approaches a new all-time high price—a feat not accomplished since the crescendo of the 2021 crypto market bull run.
On November 10, 2021, ETH reached a record value of $4,878. The token is now less than 5% below that all-time high; it has not come this close to breaking it in years. On prediction market Myriad, over 80% of users expect ethereum to blast through its all-time high and reach $5,000 in 2025 (Disclaimer: Myriad was launched by Decrypt's parent company DASTAN).
In the last 24 hours, some $532 million in crypto derivative positions have been liquidated across the entire market. Ethereum shorts represent nearly half of that figure.
Numerous factors are likely responsible for ETH’s recent surge after months of lackluster performance, including recent regulatory moves by the U.S. federal government which are poised to hasten crypto’s integration with the traditional economy.
But the most consequential narrative for ETH these days might be a deflationary one: over the last several months, ETFs and corporate treasuries have so aggressively gobbled up much of the token, that they now hold some 8% of its global supply.
