Bitcoin Drops To $43,000, Leading To $812 Million In Crypto Liquidations
As bitcoin dropped to $43,000, a figure significantly below its $46,000 support level, crypto futures worth over $812 million were liquidated. This is according to data from analytics tool Coinglass.
In Asian hours on Thursday morning, the world’s largest cryptocurrency dropped to a low of $42,500 after trading above $47,000 on Wednesday. Traders saw losses worth $317 million on bitcoin-tracked futures alone, with 87% of those positions having betted on upward price movements.
Liquidations, which futures trading is especially prone to, are caused by an exchange forcefully closing a trader’s leveraged position as a safety mechanism necessary because of a partial or total loss of the trader’s initial margin.
Over 87% of the $812 million in liquidations occurred on long positions. These are futures contracts in which traders bet on a price increase.
Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange OKEx witnessed $241 million in liquidations, the most among major exchanges. Meanwhile, Binance traders saw $236 million in losses and futures on ether saw over $164 million in liquidations. Losses for altcoin traders were limited by comparison, with Solna traders seeing $18 million in losses while XRP saw $16 million in losses.
