Bitcoin slump triggers $811 million losses as traders brace for $100K test

Bitcoin’s brief dip below $110,000 in the past 24 hours triggered one of the heaviest liquidation rounds in recent times.

According to Coinglass data, crypto traders betting on the market lost $811.6 million, with more than 179,000 traders forced out of positions.

Speaking on this broad liquidation event, Sean Dawson, head of research at Derive.xyz, told CryptoSlate:

“This sharp move appears to be the result of overleveraged positioning, particularly following ETH’s recent run-up, and an overnight dip in the S&P 500, which weighed on risk assets more broadly.”

Notably, the most significant single liquidation came from a BTC-USDT order worth $39.2 million on HTX.

Long traders, those betting on a price increase, absorbed the bulk of the losses, giving up $699.5 million, while shorts lost $112.2 million. This skew toward longs suggests that traders misjudged the strength of the recent rally, leaving them vulnerable when the price pulled back.

Bitcoin accounted for the steepest losses, with traders losing over $270 million in a single day. On Aug. 25, Glassnode noted that over $150 million in long positions were wiped out, marking one of the largest flushes since December 2024.

Ethereum followed with $266 million in liquidations, also dominated by long bets. Other major assets, including Solana, Dogecoin, and XRP, saw additional drawdowns of $38.5 million, $18.8 million, and $17.3 million, respectively.

Bitcoin could dip to $100,000

Meanwhile, the significant liquidations have fed into growing bearish sentiment among market participants, according to data from Derive.xyz

Data from the crypto derivatives trading platform showed that crypto traders now see a 35% probability of Bitcoin falling to $100,000 before the end of September, and a 55% chance that Ethereum could retest $4,000.

Dawson explained that the 25-delta skew has turned negative for both BTC and ETH, meaning traders are paying more for downside protection than upside exposure.

According to him:

“This is the strongest demand for downside protection we’ve seen in two weeks. Traders appear to be bracing for potential retests of $4,000 for ETH and $100,000 for BTC.”

He further noted that macroeconomic headwinds and volatility are weighing on the outlook, resetting risk appetites across the market.