Crypto Liquidations Surge to $1.7 Billion Amid Heightened Market Volatility

In the past 24 hours, nearly $1.7 billion in liquidations swept through the cryptocurrency market, with the total market capitalization declining by 6%.

Bitcoin (BTC) alone accounted for nearly half of the total liquidations, with traders betting on further upside taking the biggest losses during the latest wipeout.

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Massive Liquidations Impact Leveraged Crypto Traders

Data from CoinGlass shows a sharp wave of liquidations across the cryptocurrency market over the past 24 hours as asset prices declined following escalating US-Iran tensions. In total, 270,438 traders were liquidated during this period.

Long positions accounted for the majority of losses, with liquidations reaching $1.57 billion. Meanwhile, short positions totaled $107.74 million.

Bitcoin liquidations amounted to $768.69 million, with long positions representing $745.3 million of that figure. Ethereum followed a similar pattern.

ETH saw total liquidations of $417.43 million over the same timeframe, with $390.5 million coming from long positions.

Exchange data shows that Hyperliquid recorded the highest liquidation volumes with $567.2 million in long liquidations and $28.1 million in short liquidations. Bybit followed, recording $329 million and $11.9 million, while Binance posted $152.3 million in long and $29.5 million in short liquidations.

These forced closures occur when margin accounts can no longer cover losses, triggering automatic liquidations designed to protect both traders and exchanges from accumulating unsustainable debt.

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Because leveraged positions magnify price movements, sharp declines can quickly push traders using borrowed funds into liquidation. This process often creates a cascading effect, as successive liquidations add selling pressure and accelerate downward momentum.

Bitcoin and Ethereum Drop to 2-Month Lows

BeInCrypto Markets data shows that total crypto market capitalization fell by 6% over the past 24 hours. During early Asian trading hours, Bitcoin and Ethereum slid to two-month lows of $80,815 and $2,687 on Binance, respectively.

By press time, prices had recovered slightly, with Bitcoin trading at $82,023 and Ethereum at $2,737. Among the top 10 cryptocurrencies, Solana posted the largest decline, falling 7.7% over the past 24 hours.

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It is worth noting that the market crash was not confined to the cryptocurrency sector. Precious metals and equities were also affected.

“The gold-long whale 0x46e3 was just liquidated for 2,700 $GOLD($13.83M) amid the market crash,” Lookonchain posted.

Sentiment Index Signals Extreme Fear in The Crypto Market

Market sentiment deteriorated sharply alongside the sell-off. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index plunged to 16 on January 30, signaling extreme fear among traders. The reading marked the index’s lowest level year-to-date, down from 26 a day earlier.

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Signs of panic were also visible on-chain. On-chain analytics platform Lookonchain tracked a whale sell-off event, signaling capitulation by key market players.

“Whale bc1qea just panic-sold 200 $BTC($16.91M) during the market crash. This whale bought 300 $BTC($33.44M) at an average price of $111,459 on Sep 15 and Nov 12, 2025,” the post read.

The convergence of heightened geopolitical tensions, aggressive deleveraging, and deteriorating market sentiment has created a challenging environment for crypto markets.

As February approaches, it remains to be seen whether the recent pullback will lead to a rebound or whether continued volatility and risk aversion will keep prices under pressure in the near term.