Ethereum News Today: Ethereum Soars, Triggers $400M in Long Liquidations as Bitcoin Stumbles

In the past hour, the crypto derivatives market recorded $71.87 million in liquidations, with a significant skew toward long positions, accounting for $70.41 million. Short liquidations represented a relatively minor portion at $1.46 million, suggesting strong upward momentum in crypto assets and a concentration of leveraged long positions being closed out [1].

The broader context of the last 24 hours reveals a similarly pronounced pattern, with Coinglass reporting a total of $628 million in liquidations. Of this, $459 million came from long liquidations and $168 million from short liquidations, involving 139,847 traders. The largest single liquidation occurred on OKX, with a $12.49 million BTC-USDT-SWAP position being wiped out [4]. These figures underscore the heightened sensitivity of leveraged traders to price volatility and the potential for large-scale exits in a fast-moving market.

Ethereum, in particular, has been at the center of this volatility. The asset’s price surged past $4,800, triggering $388 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours—the highest among all major crypto assets. This came as the broader market saw a total of $769 million in liquidations, with over 183,000 traders affected. The largest individual liquidation was a $10 million ETH swap on OKX, an unusually high amount for the token [1].

Ethereum’s price rise has been driven in part by institutional demand and macroeconomic factors. Analysts suggest that growing allocations to ether treasuries and the token’s expanding role in stablecoins and smart contracts are contributing to a shift in institutional sentiment. This shift appears to be diverting capital from Bitcoin to Ethereum, particularly as investors anticipate potential Fed rate cuts. According to Jeff Mei, COO at BTSE, Ethereum’s smaller market cap compared to Bitcoin could mean it benefits more from additional liquidity injections [3].

The market’s reaction to this dynamic has been mixed. While Ethereum has shown resilience, trading at $4,707 as of the latest data, Bitcoin faced a brief flash crash, dropping below $111,000 after a whale sold 24,000 BTC. This event triggered $550 million in liquidations, with $238 million attributed to bitcoin positions and $216 million to ether [3]. Despite the volatility, Ethereum has posted a year-to-date gain of 45% and is increasingly being viewed as a key infrastructure asset for the evolving crypto ecosystem [1].

Analysts and market commentators have noted the potential for Ethereum to reach $10,000, especially if stablecoin adoption and institutional demand continue to accelerate. Samir Kerbage, chief investment officer at Hashdex, has cited Ethereum’s recent all-time high as a sign of broader investor demand beyond Bitcoin. However, such forecasts remain speculative and should be viewed with caution given the market’s inherent volatility [1].

Source: [1] Ethereum Bets See Unusually High $400M Liquidations as Some Now Target $10K ETH (https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2025/08/23/ethereum-bets-see-unusually-high-usd400m-liquidations-as-some-now-target-usd10k-eth) [2] Ethereum Price Record High, Bitcoin Cryptocurrency Fed Speech (https://www.investors.com/news/ethereum-price-record-high-bitcoin-cryptocurrency-fed-speech/) [3] Bitcoin Flash Crash Triggers $550M in Sunday Liquidations as Ether Rotation Builds (https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2025/08/25/bitcoin-flash-crash-triggers-usd550m-in-sunday-liquidations-as-ether-rotation-builds) [4] Data: In the past 24 hours, the total liquidation across (https://www.chaincatcher.com/en/article/2200124) [5] Ethereum Short Liquidations Exceed $178M as Prices Climb (https://intellectia.ai/news/crypto/ethereum-short-liquidations-surpass-178m-amid-price-surge)