Ethereum's Pullback Triggers $336.84 Million in Liquidations

Ethereum's recent pullback triggered a significant liquidation wave, amounting to $336.84 million in the 24 hours between June 11 and 12. This event affected over 114,000 traders, as leveraged positions were flushed out across most exchanges. The majority of these liquidations, nearly 74%, were from long positions, driven by a sharp intraday correction in Ethereum, which alone accounted for over $113 million in forced exits.

Ethereum's dominance in the liquidation charts was particularly notable, nearly doubling Bitcoin's $58.54 million in liquidations. This pattern is typical when Ethereum outperforms during rallies and then sharply corrects, catching overexposed long traders off guard. The Ethereum-led cascade extended to other major cryptocurrencies, including $13 million in Solana and $10.75 million in Dogecoin liquidations. Mid-caps such as XRP, SUI, and PEPE also registered visible but less concentrated losses.

Exchanges followed their usual hierarchy, with Binance and Bybit jointly accounting for two-thirds of all forced closures, $112.21 million and $110.25 million, respectively. OKX and Gate trailed with $52 million and $34 million in liquidations. Long exposure dominated most venues, particularly on BitMEX and Bybit, where over 80% of liquidations were longs. Bitfinex was the only exception, skewing toward short liquidations, likely reflecting a different trader profile, typically lower leverage, and discretionary directional bets.

The largest single liquidation, a $2.15 million BTCUSD-PERP order on Binance, suggests one-sided positioning ahead of a price swing. This event continues a broader pattern seen in recent weeks where traders loaded into long positions during periods of low volatility, leaving them vulnerable to sudden downside moves. The data highlights the risks associated with leveraged trading and the importance of risk management in volatile markets.