The cryptocurrency market has survived a hit hard in the past 24 hours, with traders suffering losses of over $300 million due to liquidations. Bitcoin traders were the worst hit, losing $112 million, while ether liquidations surpassed $73 million. The liquidations were triggered by the sudden nosedive of cryptocurrency prices, which caught many investors off-guard.
The largest long liquidation in at least a month suggests that Thursday’s crash in crypto prices has taken traders by surprise. Of the liquidated trading positions in the past 24 hours, some $282 million were longs, betting on higher prices. This is larger than the highest daily long liquidation of this year, recording $254 million on Feburary 8. This shows that soaring long liquidations suggest that cryptocurrency prices’ sudden drop caught investors off-guard.
Traders on Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, saw $104 million of losses, the most among exchanges, followed by $79 million of losses on OKX and $45 million on Huobi, per Coinglass. This indicates that the cryptocurrency market crash was felt across major exchanges, leading to substantial losses.
The recent decline in cryptocurrency prices has come as concerns mounted about the stability of Silvergate Bank, a key banking partner for digital asset companies. After suffering huge losses and dwindling deposits, the bank announced Wednesday evening that it will “voluntarily liquidate” its assets and shut down operations. This has further contributed to the uncertainty in the cryptocurrency market, leading to the sudden nosedive of cryptocurrency prices.
Although, Crypto markets enjoyed one of their strongest starts to the year in their 14-year history, recovering some losses from the collapse of crypto exchange FTX. BTC rallied above $25,000 in February at one point after starting the year at about $16,600. However, the recent crash has wiped out many of these gains, leading to substantial losses for traders and investors.