The cryptocurrency derivatives market experienced its largest wave of forced short liquidations in recent months, with total losses soaring to $789.57 million in the past 24 hours. Data from analytics provider CoinGlass revealed that short traders alone faced liquidations worth $665.81 million following sharp price increases across several major digital assets.
Altcoin short sellers face heavy losses
While Bitcoin and Ethereum have historically dominated liquidation events, the latest cycle saw a significant share of losses shifting to altcoins. Market participants with short positions in assets like XRP, NEAR, and Zcash were particularly affected as strong rallies prompted a cascade of forced liquidations.
NEAR recorded the largest jump among these, climbing 11.51% to reach $4.06 and triggering $8.88 million in short liquidations in a single session. Meanwhile, XRP climbed 7.99% to $1.47, contributing to $10.04 million in liquidated short positions. Zcash (ZEC) also participated in the surge, posting a 6.24% increase to $1,514.93, with $11.51 million in short liquidations. In just a few hours, short sellers targeting these three tokens absorbed over $30 million in losses.
A pronounced build-up of highly leveraged short trades led to a textbook short squeeze, as rising prices forced exchanges to trigger automated buybacks for collateral coverage. These forced purchases amplified the momentum, sending values higher and liquidating more short positions in succession.
Bitcoin and Ethereum liquidations dominate
Bitcoin accounted for the highest single-day nominal liquidations, with $384.71 million wiped from traders holding short positions. The leading cryptocurrency advanced by 5.73%, pushing past the $85,000 mark. The largest individual liquidation took place on Binance in the BTCUSDT pair, valued at $11.29 million.
Ethereum short sellers followed, absorbing $157.97 million in forced liquidations as ETH gained 5.80% to approach a major psychological threshold at $2,710.
Solana (SOL) also saw an impressive move, with the price rising 8.15% to $117.28, resulting in $20.21 million in liquidated shorts.
Critical price zones and meme token momentum
Liquidity maps from CoinGlass indicate that fresh risk zones for Bitcoin shorts now cluster around $86,385, where $72.26 million remains at stake. For Ethereum, the comparable zone is $2,757, with $30.31 million at risk. Both thresholds are less than 2% above current prices, suggesting further liquidations could quickly follow if upward movement resumes.
NEAR and XRP short sellers face renewed pressure at $4.28 and $1.49, respectively. A rapid contraction in open interest for short positions signals that sellers are capitulating, while buying momentum strengthens across spot markets.
As technical levels and stop order cascades come into focus, the meme token market has continued to draw speculative activity. An example, illustrated by Fomo App, saw a $99 trade in “Niu Lai” balloon into roughly $370,000 within days. In such fast-moving markets, close tracking of both token selection and timing is critical for participants. Fomo App integrates real-time token discovery, trading, investor rankings, and social feeds, allowing users to follow meme token dynamics and investor behavior as they unfold.
Short seller losses across the largest assets have led to a shift in risk zones, with Bitcoin and Ethereum bears now facing potential additional liquidations as prices approach $86,385 and $2,757, respectively. Market momentum currently favors buyers following a rapid decline in open short positions.
