A market sell-off late Thursday disproportionately impacted ethereum speculators, resulting in roughly $356 million worth of ether liquidations over a 24-hour window. By comparison, bitcoin positions experienced $298 million in liquidations, even though bitcoin holds a market capitalization greater than five times that of ether.
A liquidation occurs when a trader borrows funds to amplify their exposure, and market losses consume their posted collateral, compelling the platform to terminate the position automatically. This process frequently involves selling into an already declining market, which drives prices down further for subsequent market participants.
Across the broader ecosystem, liquidations reached $1.19 billion during the 24-hour period, with upward of $1 billion originating from long positions where participants wagered on rising valuations. The single largest individual wipeout involved an ether position valued at nearly $20 million on Hyperliquid, a decentralized platform dedicated to leveraged trading.
When evaluated relative to overall scale, ether suffered approximately sixfold the relative impact.
Its liquidations amount to roughly $1.2 million for every $1 billion of market capitalization, contrasting with about $180,000 for bitcoin. Ether dropped in value by over 3% to settle near $2,490, whereas bitcoin retreated by about 1%.
Speculative positions on SOL accounted for an additional $71 million, XRP contributed $34 million, and NEAR registered $25 million, while all other tokens combined contributed approximately $119 million.
Bitcoin retreated from roughly $83,200 down to a low near $80,400 late Thursday. This movement followed the release of Federal Reserve minutes showing that a majority of officials anticipated an additional interest rate increase prior to the conclusion of the year, alongside reports indicating that the Pentagon was gearing up for resumed hostilities involving Iran, which subsequently drove petroleum prices upward.
Market anxiety was further compounded by a caution from Ethereum researcher Justin Drake regarding artificial intelligence potentially undermining the cryptographic security protecting crypto wallets sooner than anticipated. Investors had accumulated leverage throughout the week while bitcoin fluctuated in a band between $83,000 and $87,000, creating an abundance of vulnerable positions once that range gave way.
Read More: Originally published at https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/10/09/ether-bets-were-wiped-out-at-six-times-bitcoin-s-rate-in-crypto-s-usd1-billion-flush.
