On August 5, the cryptocurrency market experienced a dramatic downturn, leading to approximately $1.08 billion in total liquidations.
This major loss occurred as major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana saw uncontrolled price declines, exacerbated by a weakening global economy and a sudden crash in Japan’s stock market.
Data from Coinglass reveals that nearly 300,000 traders had their positions liquidated during this turbulent period. The sharp drop in crypto prices triggered widespread liquidations, particularly impacting those with leveraged positions.
Bitcoin’s value plummeted from around $65,000 to about $50,000, while Ether’s price fell by more than 20%, dropping from approximately $2,760 to $2,172. As a result, traders holding long positions faced severe losses.
In just under 24 hours, those with long positions in Bitcoin suffered losses exceeding $315 million, while those betting on the cryptocurrency’s decline (short positions) lost $62.23 million. Ethereum traders faced similar setbacks, with long position losses totaling $305 million and short position losses reaching over $50 million.
The overall liquidation losses across all crypto assets amounted to over $930 million for long positions, and $163.45 million for short positions. This significant market upheaval saw nearly 80% of traders affected within a 12-hour span.
The largest single liquidation occurred on the Huobi exchange, where a trader incurred a loss of $27 million in the BTC/USD trading pair, according to Cointelegraph. The majority of liquidations took place on Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, with additional notable liquidations on OKX, Huobi, Bybit, and BitMEX.
In the midst of this market chaos, some hackers seized the opportunity for profit. With Ether’s value dropping substantially, funds linked to the August 2022 Nomad crypto bridge hack were used to purchase 16,892 Ether.
The on-chain activity indicates that these funds were acquired at lower prices and laundered through the crypto mixer Tornado Cash to avoid detection.
