Another major deleveraging event has hit the cryptocurrency market. As Bitcoin fell below $81,000, total liquidations across the market briefly reached $1.16 billion over 24 hours. About $1.05 billion came from long positions betting on rising prices. Forced liquidations over a short period further intensified the existing downturn.
Ethereum became the hardest-hit leveraged market among major cryptocurrencies. The latest CoinGlass data shows that ETH positions saw about $356 million in liquidations over 24 hours, nearly 18% more than BTC’s roughly $300 million. The largest single liquidation in this wave also came from an ETH-USD contract on Hyperliquid, valued at nearly $20 million.
ETH falls more than BTC, briefly dropping below $2,500 intraday
As of noon Taipei time on October 9, ETH was trading at around $2,492, down about 3% from the previous close, after touching an intraday low of $2,409. BTC was trading at around $82,377, after falling to an intraday low of $80,432. SOL was down more than 4%, indicating that the selling pressure was not limited to ETH but affected volatile crypto assets broadly.
ETH’s heavier liquidations are related to the relative concentration of derivatives trading. CoinGlass data shows that ETH’s futures trading volume over the past 24 hours was about $63.48 billion, while its spot trading volume was only about $4.12 billion—around 15.4 times less. ETH open interest remains at $32.28 billion. By comparison, BTC futures trading volume was about 11.4 times its spot volume, indicating that ETH price swings are more easily amplified through leveraged markets.
However, higher futures trading volume than spot volume does not mean that all traders are using extremely high leverage. It mainly indicates that price discovery and short-term trading are more concentrated in derivatives markets. When ETH falls below the price required to maintain margin, multiple forced liquidations can trigger a cascade.
Consecutive ETF outflows leave spot buyers unable to absorb selling
U.S. spot crypto ETFs also failed to provide enough support for the market. Farside data shows that Bitcoin ETFs recorded net outflows of $484.9 million on October 7 and $244.1 million on October 8, for combined withdrawals of about $729 million over the two days.
Ethereum ETFs saw even weaker flows: they recorded net outflows for six consecutive trading days from October 1 to 8, with total withdrawals of about $578.9 million. This included a single-day outflow of $201.9 million on October 6, followed by another $160.9 million on October 7. When demand for spot ETFs weakens while futures bulls remain highly leveraged, a price decline leaves too few unleveraged buyers to absorb forced selling.
The macroeconomic environment is also unfavorable for risk assets. The Federal Reserve’s latest meeting minutes showed that most policymakers believed another rate hike before the end of the year could be appropriate if economic data came in as expected. Officials also noted that demand driven by energy prices and investment in artificial intelligence could keep inflationary pressures elevated.
Rising expectations of interest rate hikes, along with higher oil prices, Treasury yields, and the U.S. dollar, have increased the opportunity cost of holding crypto assets. Macroeconomic news set the direction of the price decline, while excessively concentrated long leverage amplified its pace.
$80,000 and $2,400 for ETH become short-term lines of defense
Glassnode had warned before the sell-off that open interest in large- and mid-cap altcoins was high relative to market capitalization, with leverage rising to its highest level since before the market crash in October 2025. The first major BTC liquidation zone identified by the firm at the time was $81,700–$83,300, which prices have since breached during this downturn. The next dense liquidation zone in its model is around $75,000, but this reflects the distribution of positions and is not a price forecast.
In the short term, whether BTC can hold above $80,000 and ETH can regain ground above $2,500 will determine whether deleveraging is about to pause. If ETH falls below its intraday low of $2,409 again without a significant concurrent decline in open interest, it could trigger another wave of long liquidations. Conversely, if prices stabilize, open interest declines, and ETF outflows ease, this liquidation event could mark the clearing of excessive leverage rather than a collapse in fundamentals.
"Ethereum Becomes the Epicenter of Leveraged Liquidations! Over $1.1 Billion Liquidated Across Crypto Markets, with ETH Liquidations of $356 Million Surpassing Bitcoin’s" was first published on BlockTempo.