The cryptocurrency market suffered one of its worst liquidation events in history, wiping out over $2.24 billion in the last 24 hours amid escalating global trade tensions.
Ethereum (ETH) took the hardest hit, leading the liquidation spree with $617.35 million, followed by Bitcoin (BTC) at $418.20 million. Other altcoins also faced sharp declines, with a combined $441.18 million in liquidations, amplifying the market’s downward spiral.
Mass liquidations trigger market-wide panic
According to data from CoinGlass, 746,711 traders were liquidated, marking one of the most severe wipeouts in crypto history. The largest single liquidation order was recorded on Binance’s ETH/BTC trading pair, valued at $25.64 million.
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Ethereum’s long positions suffered $478.93 million in liquidations, with short traders losing another $138.41 million.
The scale of the selloff has drawn comparisons to some of the worst market crashes, now reportedly the largest liquidation event since the COVID-19 Black Thursday crash, the collapse of Terra (LUNA), and the collapse of FTX.
The cascading liquidations swept across major exchanges, forcing leveraged traders to exit positions as prices fell sharply. OKX led with $28.87 million in liquidations, followed by Binance at $27.22 million and Bybit at $11.45 million.
Trump’s tariff war triggers crypto selloff
The cryptocurrency meltdown coincided with U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of new trade tariffs, imposing a 25% levy on Canadian and Mexican imports and a 10% tariff on Chinese goods.
The move triggered widespread fears of a prolonged global trade war, sending financial markets into turmoil and prompting investors to offload risk assets, including cryptocurrencies.
The fallout was immediate, with the global cryptocurrency market cap plunging to $3.25 trillion, down 8.8% in the past 24 hours.
Bitcoin saw one of the steepest declines, dropping from highs above $105,000 on January 31 to $95,145 at press time, while Ethereum fell 16%, trading at $2,583 at press time.
Cryptocurrency market outlook
With fears of a prolonged trade war escalating, investors remain cautious, uncertain whether Bitcoin can hold above $90,000 or face deeper losses.
While a return of risk appetite could help Bitcoin and Ethereum recover lost ground, the sustained uncertainty keeps cryptocurrencies vulnerable to further sell-offs.
Featured image via Shutterstock
