Bitcoin’s rally squeezed short sellers last the week. By Sunday, the reversal was hitting leveraged longs.
Bitcoin liquidations hit leveraged longs
At about 07:00 UTC on Aug. 23, CoinGlass showed $101.39 million of crypto long positions liquidated over four hours, almost 86% of the window’s $118.13 million total. The 24-hour view put long liquidations at $250.57 million out of $339.73 million.
Bitcoin contributed $38.66 million of the four-hour long liquidations and $55.82 million over 24 hours. At the time, BTC traded near $76,088, down about 1.8% over the preceding day after approaching $80,000 during the earlier rally. Since then, Bitcoin has recovered slightly to near $77,300.
The liquidation mix confirms a sharp change in who was being forced out. The positioning data, however, showed leverage shrinking during the pullback.
Open interest falls during the pullback
CoinGlass placed aggregate Bitcoin futures open interest near $54.54 billion, down 2.65% over 24 hours. Major perpetual funding rates were generally near the 0.01% baseline, while the aggregate account long-short ratio stood at 0.9238. A market already reloading with crowded longs would typically show expanding open interest and richer funding; this capture showed restrained positioning on both measures.
The washout was also broader than Bitcoin. Binance accounted for $65.02 million of all crypto liquidations over four hours, including $58.64 million in longs. The largest single order shown over 24 hours was an $11.72 million ETHUSDT liquidation on Binance.
The earlier short squeeze carries several totals tied to different windows. CoinGlass said on Aug. 20 that $3.07 billion in crypto shorts had been liquidated “today,” without defining exact start and end times. Its live historical table separately listed a $2.99 billion event dated Aug. 19, while CryptoSlate’s prior coverage and the Associated Press used broader figures above $4 billion. Direct comparison would turn different scopes into one misleading record total.
Spot ETF demand provides a counterweight to a derivatives-only explanation.
ETF inflows offer a spot-market counterweight
Farside Investors recorded five consecutive sessions of US spot Bitcoin ETF inflows through Friday, including $307.5 million on Aug. 21, before the creation channel closed for the weekend. The timing leaves long liquidations and thinner weekend spot support entangled.
The Aug. 23 snapshot therefore captures a long flush already reducing open interest. Evidence of the next crowded long trade would have to emerge in a later expansion of leverage, funding or both. Until then, the live data describes a cleanup of existing risk, with Monday’s reopened ETF channel providing the next spot-demand test.