Leveraged crypto traders lost close to $1 billion in 24 hours as Bitcoin climbed back above $80,000. Roughly 59% of that came from short positions, which are bets that prices would keep falling. CoinGlass liquidation data put the 24-hour total between $950 million and $975 million, depending on when the window was measured.
Short liquidations ran from $560 million to $575 million across those snapshots. Long liquidations were about $391 million to $401 million. A liquidation happens when an exchange force-closes a leveraged position whose margin no longer covers its losses. For a short, that means buying the coin back, which adds to the rise that caused it.
Bitcoin Rose Roughly 4% From a $75,600 Low
Bitcoin traded around $80,500 on Wednesday, up roughly 4% on the day. Estimates of the gain ran from 3.8% to 4.6% depending on the data source and time of measurement.
The climb started from a deep low. Bitcoin dropped to about $75,600 to $75,700 overnight on Tuesday into Wednesday, then pushed as high as about $81,000. That is a swing of around $5,400 inside a single day.
The move followed the November 3 US midterm elections, in which Democrats won control of Congress. The timing alone does not show that the election result caused the rally or the liquidations, and no cause has been established.
Bitcoin Shorts Took Most of the Damage
Bitcoin positions accounted for about $396 million to $403 million of the 24-hour total, according to CoinGlass figures. Shorts made up 76% to 78% of that. Working from those numbers, roughly $306 million to $310 million of Bitcoin shorts were closed out, about a third of all liquidations across the market.
That makes Bitcoin the most one-sided part of the squeeze. Traders who had added short exposure near the $75,000 area were the ones forced out as the price recovered past $80,000.
Ether's Liquidations Were Closer to Even
Ether gained more than Bitcoin, rising between 6.3% and 6.8% to roughly $2,420 to $2,440. Its liquidations were more balanced. ETH positions lost about $238 million to $242 million, with shorts making up 55.5% to 56.5%.
That leaves roughly $105 million in ether long liquidations. The largest single liquidation of the day was in that group: a $38 million long on the ETH-USDT pair at HTX. On our arithmetic, that one order equals more than a third of all ether long liquidations in the window.
Together, Bitcoin and ether account for about $640 million of the total, around two-thirds of everything liquidated.
The Levels the Day's Range Sets
The 24-hour range gives two clear reference points. The overnight low near $75,600 is where the short positions were built. A move back below that level would undo the whole rebound.
The high near $81,000 is the top of the squeeze. A rally driven mostly by forced buying from shorts can lose momentum once those positions are gone. Whether Bitcoin can hold above $80,000 without that fuel is the next thing the price will answer.
Some details remain unconfirmed. Exchange-by-exchange shares and the number of liquidated traders were reported by only one source, so they are left out here.
