In the past 24 hours, over $19 billion in crypto bets have been lost, leading to the liquidation of more than 1.6 million traders, according to data from Coinglass. On Friday alone, more than $7 billion worth of positions were wiped out within just an hour of trading.
Coinglass noted on X that the actual total could be even higher, as many exchanges do not report liquidation data in real time. Binance Holdings, the world’s largest crypto exchange, reportedly registers only one liquidation order per second.
Market weakness had already been visible before Friday’s crash, but a post by former U.S. President Donald Trump triggered a steep selloff, causing bitcoin to drop more than 12%. The cryptocurrency, which had recently reached a record high of over US$125,000, was trading below US$113,000 by Friday night in New York.
Crypto prices plunged after Trump announced plans to impose an additional 100% tariff on China and introduce export controls on software. Coinglass described the ensuing crash as “the largest liquidation event in crypto history.”
“The focus now turns to counterparty exposure and whether this triggers broader market contagion,” said Brian Strugats, head trader at Multicoin Capital, noting that some estimates place total liquidations above US$30 billion.
The escalating U.S.–China trade tensions have sent shockwaves through global markets, affecting stocks, oil, and cryptocurrencies, while pushing investors toward U.S. Treasuries and gold as safer assets.
“This is a black swan event,” said David Jeong, CEO of Tread.fi, an algorithmic crypto trading platform for institutional investors. “Many institutions did not anticipate such volatility, and due to the highly leveraged nature of perpetual futures, even large traders would have been liquidated.”
Vincent Liu, Chief Investment Officer at Kronos Research, said the downturn was “sparked by fears of U.S.-China tariffs but fueled by institutional over-leverage.” He added, “This highlights the macro ties of crypto. Expect volatility, but watch for signs of a rebound in cleared markets.”
