Bitcoin climbed above $80,000 on Friday, September 18. Around $501 million in leveraged positions were liquidated across the cryptocurrency market over the past 24 hours. Short positions, which bet on falling prices, accounted for most of the liquidations.
According to JrKripto data, Bitcoin traded at $80,719 at the time of writing. The largest cryptocurrency gained 5.72% over the past 24 hours. Short liquidations reached $445.7 million during the same period.
Activity in derivatives markets also drew attention as Bitcoin crossed the $80,000 threshold. Liquidations over the past four hours accounted for more than half of the 24-hour total.
Short Positions Account for Nearly 89% of Liquidations
Market data showed that $500.993 million in positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours. Short positions accounted for $445.69 million of that amount. Liquidations of long positions, which bet on rising prices, stood at $55.304 million.
Short positions therefore represented 88.96% of total liquidations. The value of liquidated bearish positions was roughly eight times that of liquidated longs.
This breakdown shows that traders positioned against the price increase faced heavier liquidation losses. However, the $501 million total covers leveraged positions across the broader cryptocurrency market. It does not consist entirely of Bitcoin trades.
Liquidation figures also do not mean that an equivalent amount of cash left the market. They represent the value of leveraged positions that exchanges forcibly closed after traders could no longer meet margin requirements.
Four-Hour Liquidations Reach $279 Million
Short positions also dominated liquidations across shorter time frames. Total liquidations reached $420.5 million over the past 12 hours. Shorts accounted for approximately $384.3 million, while longs made up $36.2 million.
Over the past four hours, total liquidations reached $279.2 million. Short liquidations amounted to $261.4 million, compared with $17.8 million in long liquidations.
These figures put the share of short positions at roughly 93.6% of four-hour liquidations. The same period accounted for approximately 55.7% of the 24-hour total.
Another $46.9 million in positions were liquidated over the past hour. Shorts accounted for $42.5 million of that amount, while longs represented $4.4 million.
The one-hour, four-hour and 12-hour periods all fall within the 24-hour window. Adding these figures together would therefore count some liquidations more than once.
Bitcoin Reaches a 24-Hour High of $80,930
Market data showed that Bitcoin traded between $76,205 and $80,930 over the past 24 hours. The gap between the period’s lowest and highest prices reached $4,725.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin stood approximately $211 below its 24-hour high. Its one-hour gain was 0.73%, while its seven-day advance stood at 2.64%. Over the past 30 days, Bitcoin gained 21.44%.
The daily gain exceeding the weekly advance highlights how price performance can vary across different time frames. These percentages alone, however, do not establish whether the rally will continue.
Short Liquidations Can Accelerate Price Moves
Short positions allow traders to profit from falling prices. When prices rise, however, losses grow and the available collateral may no longer be sufficient to keep a position open. The exchange then forcibly closes the trade.
Closing short positions can generate buying pressure in derivatives markets. Heavy liquidations can therefore accelerate an existing rally. Liquidation data alone, however, cannot explain what initially triggered Bitcoin’s move.
The high share of short positions in total liquidations stood out in the latest figures. With Bitcoin trading above $80,000, the concentration of forced closures over the past four hours highlighted the scale of activity in leveraged markets.
