Bitcoin, Ether Whipsaw Wipes Out $286 Million in Leveraged Bets Amid Fed Rate Decision
Key Takeaways
- •Approximately $286 million in crypto derivatives positions were liquidated across 87,294 traders during the 24-hour window, with longs accounting for $186 million and shorts for $100 million.
- •Bitcoin and Ether prices remained relatively stable, with Bitcoin trading near $63,900 and Ether near $1,900, yet intraday swings of less than 2% were sufficient to wipe out leveraged positions on both sides.
- •The Federal Reserve rate decision itself triggered $188 million in liquidations, with $130 million coming from long positions alone.
- •Equity perpetual futures on crypto exchanges sustained notable losses from a semiconductor selloff, including $19 million in SanDisk and $10 million in Micron liquidations, predominantly on the long side.
- •SK Hynix fell 17% after reporting a 557% profit increase that missed expectations, contributing to crypto-venue equity derivative losses for the second time in a week following Monday's $60 million Trade.xyz incident.
Bitcoin, Ether Whipsaw Wipes Out $286 Million in Leveraged Bets Amid Fed Rate Decision
Price volatility surrounding the Federal Reserve's rate decision cleared leveraged positions for roughly 87,000 traders, with losses split unusually evenly between bulls and bears.
Nearly $286 million in crypto derivatives positions were liquidated over a 24-hour window, even as major cryptocurrencies ended the period largely unchanged. Bitcoin traded around $63,900 and ether slipped modestly to $1,900 — both near their levels from 24 hours prior.
The calm in spot prices, however, masked erratic back-and-forth swings that flushed out leveraged futures bets on both sides of the market. Liquidations occur when exchanges forcibly close positions because traders' collateral falls below required maintenance margins — meaning even modest price moves can trigger cascading closures among overleveraged participants.
Federal Reserve rate decisions are among the most closely watched macro events for crypto traders, as expectations about the trajectory of borrowing costs influence appetite for risk assets more broadly. The minutes surrounding such announcements frequently produce elevated volatility as markets reposition.
According to data from CoinGlass, approximately $286 million in positions were liquidated across 87,294 traders. Longs accounted for $186 million of the total, while shorts made up $100 million — a pattern characteristic of a market that moved sharply in both directions before settling back near its starting point.
The bulk of the damage occurred around Wednesday's Fed rate decision. The widely watched event triggered erratic price movements that produced $188 million in liquidations, with longs alone responsible for $130 million of that figure.
Bitcoin and Ether Liquidations Nearly Balanced
Bitcoin's liquidation data show that both bulls and bears were hit. Roughly $57 million in bitcoin positions were cleared, with an almost even split: about $28 million in longs versus $29 million in shorts. During the window, bitcoin swung between $63,247 and $64,660 — a range of barely 2% — yet sufficient to wipe out traders positioned on either side.
The single largest liquidation was a $2.9 million bitcoin position on Binance.
Ether recorded the highest total among major coins at approximately $58 million, tilted toward longs. Ether prices ranged between $1,850 and $1,920 during the period.
Equity Perpetuals on Crypto Exchanges Hit by Chip Selloff
A more unusual area of losses came from equity perpetual futures listed on crypto exchanges. These are perpetual contracts on stocks and funds, traded with the same leverage as bitcoin, giving crypto-native traders direct exposure to traditional equities without a brokerage account.
About $19 million in SanDisk positions were liquidated on crypto derivatives venues, along with $10 million in Micron, $7 million in SK Hynix, and $7 million in SOXL, a leveraged semiconductor ETF. Nearly all of these losses were on the long side. Micron's liquidations split roughly seven to one in favor of longs, at $9 million against $1 million, while SanDisk's ran about two to one.
Traders had been using crypto rails to bet on the AI memory trade continuing upward, and were positioned accordingly heading into the sharpest chip selloff of the year. The episode illustrates how crypto-venue equity derivatives have grown into a meaningful conduit for speculative bets on technology themes, exposing participants to traditional-market shocks through an infrastructure originally built for digital assets.
The timing proved costly. SK Hynix fell 17% on Wednesday after reporting a 557% profit increase that nonetheless fell short of expectations. Korea's Kospi index has dropped more than 40% from its June peak.
This marks the second time this week that equity perpetuals on crypto venues have produced significant losses. On Monday, a single trade on a thinly traded Korean pre-market venue caused Trade.xyz's SK Hynix contract to drop 19%, triggering $60 million in liquidations. The exchange has since agreed to reimburse those losses.