Crypto Short Liquidations Surge 100% to $1 Billion as Bitcoin Hits $118,000

Short liquidations in the cryptocurrency market reached an unprecedented $1 billion as Bitcoin (BTC) surged to new heights, trading above $118,000. This event marks the largest short liquidation of the year, significantly impacting both the BTC and Ethereum (ETH) markets. The recent price surge of BTC, which reached $118,000, resulted in substantial short liquidations, totaling $655.46 million in the past 24 hours. The remaining short liquidity extended up to $118,800, highlighting the intense market activity.

Most of the liquidations occurred late on July 10 during US trading hours. Traders have generally been more cautious in 2025, leading to fewer significant liquidations. The recent rally in BTC prices remained largely unaffected by the weekly options expiry on Deribit, as the contracts expired under current market prices. This indicates that the market's bullish sentiment is driven by broader factors rather than short-term options activity.

The current levels of over $1 billion in short liquidations within 24 hours are unprecedented and are primarily attributed to the exuberant market move for BTC. Short liquidations reached over $965 million, while long liquidations accounted for only 10% of the total. The largest single wallet liquidation was $88.55 million on HTX. Additionally, a batch of 5,000 BTC getting liquidated on Binance contributed to the near-vertical rally in BTC prices.

One of the significant waves of liquidations occurred as BTC decisively breached the previous all-time high above $112,000, liquidating up to $340 million. Above these levels, traders have yet to allocate liquidity, making a short squeeze to $120,000 less probable. Despite the liquidations, BTC traders are rapidly rebuilding liquidity, with derivative open interest back to $38 billion. This indicates that the market is still bullish on BTC, with traders confident in its continued price appreciation.

BTC dominance remains near its 2021 levels at 62.6%, still garnering more attention than ETH. At the same time, ETH managed to recover the $3,000 level, with $258 million in short liquidations for the past 24 hours. This suggests that while BTC is the primary driver of the current market rally, ETH is also benefiting from the overall bullish sentiment.

For some traders, the BTC rally was nearing its end, and some high-profile traders reopened short positions. Both James Wynn and @qwatio, two of the most watched whales, set up short positions just before the rally. Wynn got liquidated for a small 40X leveraged short on BTC, as the leading coin did not backtrack from its peak levels. The other whale, @qwatio, currently closed all perpetual futures positions. The Hyperliquid whale liquidations were mostly for show, as the positions were created shortly before the BTC rally. Wynn and @qwatio shorted BTC while the market still flashed a ‘greed’ indicator, turning the short positions into a publicity stunt. However, @qwatio has accrued real losses from attempts to short BTC in the past weeks, with overall losses of $16.72 million.

Leveraged trading becomes riskier as BTC remains in price discovery territory, aiming for milestone prices. For now, the trading profile has not shifted to extreme greed, as other days of market frenzy remain a possibility. The recent BTC trading and accumulation activity have mostly left retail behind, reflecting the decisions of institutions and whales. BTC is once again seen as a safe haven asset, though combined with the potential for unlimited upside and price discovery.