About $356 million of leveraged ether positions were forced shut over 24 hours, against roughly $298 million for bitcoin, despite ether's far smaller market value. Bitcoin traded back near $82,500 early Friday, ahead of the day's options expiry.
The forced selling in crypto this week did not fall evenly. Ether took far more of it than its size would suggest.
About $1.19 billion of leveraged crypto positions were liquidated over 24 hours through early Friday, according to derivatives data, with more than $1 billion of that coming from bets on rising prices. Ether positions accounted for about $356 million and bitcoin for about $298 million. Solana followed at about $71 million and XRP at about $34 million. The largest single liquidation was an ether position of roughly $20 million on the Hyperliquid exchange.
Scaled by size
Bitcoin's market value is about $1.65 trillion and ether's about $302 billion. Per $1 billion of market value, ether lost about $1.2 million of positions to forced closures; bitcoin lost about $180,000. That is a ratio of roughly six and a half to one.
The disparity suggests a larger share of ether's market was held in leveraged positions going into the selloff. Ether exchange-traded funds were also losing money for an eighth straight session over the same period, adding to the pressure from the spot side.
The low and the bounce
Bitcoin's low came in the 1 p.m. Eastern hour on Thursday, at about $80,315. It then climbed steadily overnight and traded at $82,537 at about 5:20 a.m. on Friday, up about 2.8% from the low and 1.0% on the day. The recovery put it back over the 50-day average, about $80,280, though it remains some 35% under the year's peak of $126,296.
Ether traded at $2,503, up about 4% from Thursday afternoon's level near $2,409 but still below its own 50-day average of about $2,547. XRP and Solana each recovered about 1% to 1.6% in the 24 hours to early Friday.
As prices rose, the liquidations changed sides. In one four-hour window after the turn, about 78% of roughly $25 million of liquidations hit short positions.
The timing
Bitcoin was still sliding when the president posted at 12:17 p.m. that there would be no U.S. attack on Iran before the Nov 3, 2026 vote, and oil eased from its highs. Selling continued for roughly another hour; the low and the turn both arrived between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. The sequence does not establish what ended the selling. Liquidations exhausting themselves, oil retreating and the post all fall in the same few hours.
Competing views
On one view, the flush did its job. Leverage was cleared, ether bore the brunt, bitcoin held its 50-day average and the $80,000 area, and the overnight recovery forced shorts to cover.
On another, the bounce rests on thin demand. Spot bitcoin and ether funds have been losing money, ether remains below its 50-day average, and the conditions that built the leverage in the first place have not changed.
Friday and Saturday
Bitcoin and ether options expire on Friday. Saturday marks one year since the Oct 10, 2025, liquidation day, when about $19 billion of positions were forced shut. Whether spot buyers came back with the rebound will show up in Friday's ETF data, due after the U.S. market closes.