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Roughly $608 million in leveraged crypto positions were forcibly closed on October 7, 2026, and Ether bulls absorbed most of the damage.
The biggest single loss was a $26.64 million position on Binance’s ETHUSDC pair.
The details of the wipeout
Broader tallies for the 24-hour window put the total at approximately $608 to $609 million. Data aggregator Coinglass, which pulls figures from multiple exchanges, provided the real-time picture of the cascade.
The split between bulls and bears was lopsided. Long positions accounted for roughly $545 million of the total, while shorts made up about $64 million.
The pain was spread across a wide group of traders. An estimated 105,660 to 106,952 accounts were liquidated during the event.
Most of the activity happened in perpetual futures markets on Binance, Bybit, and OKX.
How a liquidation cascade works
In crypto derivatives, traders post a slice of collateral to control a much larger position. If the price moves against them far enough, the exchange closes the position automatically to stop losses from exceeding the collateral.
That forced closing is a liquidation. When many traders hold similar positions, one liquidation can push the price further, which triggers the next one, and the next.
Perpetual futures are where this tends to concentrate. These contracts have no expiry date, so traders can hold leveraged bets indefinitely as long as their margin holds up.
To keep perpetual prices tied to the spot market, exchanges use a mechanism called the funding rate. When the rate is positive, traders holding longs pay those holding shorts to keep their positions open.
Why Ether bulls were exposed
The setup before the reversal showed a crowded trade. Open interest in Ether derivatives, meaning the total value of outstanding contracts, was elevated.
Funding rates were also positive. Long traders were paying shorts for the privilege of staying in their bets, a sign of strong conviction that prices would keep climbing.
The $26.64 million ETHUSDC liquidation fits the pattern. A position that size on a single pair suggests at least some traders were running sizable leverage on Ether specifically.
What this means for traders and exchanges
The concentration on Binance, Bybit, and OKX also matters. These venues host the bulk of perpetual futures activity, so their margin rules and liquidation engines shape how violent these events become.
For the wider market, the imbalance between roughly $545 million in long liquidations and about $64 million in shorts is the number to note.
The things to watch next are funding rates and open interest in Ether derivatives. If both climb back quickly toward pre-reversal levels, the market may be rebuilding the same crowded setup that just unraveled.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
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