Ether Traders Were Liquidated at Six Times Bitcoin's Rate in the $1 Billion Flush

Ether traders took the worst of this week's flush. CoinDesk reported that about $1.19 billion in leveraged crypto positions was liquidated in 24 hours, more than $1 billion of it from longs, and that ether accounted for roughly $356 million of that — more than bitcoin's $298 million, even though bitcoin's market value is more than five times ether's. Adjusted for size, the gap is stark: CoinDesk calculated about $1.2 million of ETH liquidated per $1 billion of market value, versus about $180,000 for BTC, roughly six times the rate.

Why "per $1 billion of market value" is the number that matters

Raw dollar totals favor big assets. Bitcoin is the largest crypto asset by market value, so it usually dominates headline liquidation tallies. Dividing liquidations by market value asks a different question — how much of an asset's total value was forcibly sold — and it's the comparison behind CoinDesk's headline. By that measure, ether's longs were hit about six times as hard as bitcoin's, even before you consider that ETH fell more than 3% to about $2,490 while BTC lost about 1%, sliding from about $83,200 to as low as about $80,400 late Thursday. A larger price move against leveraged positions produces more liquidations, which is part of the arithmetic here.

One caveat about the source. CoinDesk's per-asset figures — ETH $356 million, BTC $298 million, SOL $71 million, XRP $34 million, NEAR $25 million and about $119 million for all other tokens — sum to about $903 million, not $1.19 billion, and the article doesn't explain the difference or name its data provider. PumpReport hasn't been able to reconcile them. We present both numbers as reported, and the ratio as CoinDesk calculated it, rather than choosing between them.

The biggest single wipeout

The largest single liquidation CoinDesk identified was a position of nearly $20 million in ETH on Hyperliquid, a decentralized perpetual futures exchange. That detail is a useful reminder that these totals aren't confined to centralized exchanges. Activity on on-chain venues like Hyperliquid is publicly visible, which is one reason decentralized-exchange liquidations are often easier to attribute to individual positions than those on centralized platforms. For how forced liquidations work mechanically, see our explainer What Is a Crypto Liquidation?

What the report says caused the selloff, and what it doesn't

CoinDesk does not offer an ETH-specific explanation for why ether was hit hardest. It attributes the broader selloff to several factors: Fed minutes showing most officials expected another rate hike before year-end; a report that the Pentagon was preparing for renewed combat in Iran, which pushed oil higher; and a warning from Ethereum researcher Justin Drake that AI could break the math securing crypto wallets sooner than expected, which the article paraphrases rather than quotes. The article does not report open interest or funding rates, so any claim about how crowded ETH longs were going into the drop would be speculation beyond the source. The report does note that bitcoin had been range-bound between about $83,000 and $87,000 during the week, and that traders had built up leverage in that range.

The rebound: a squeeze in the other direction

Bitcoin later rebounded to about $82,200 after President Trump ruled out a strike on Iran before the midterm elections, per CoinDesk. About $25 million was liquidated over four hours, roughly 78% of it from shorts, and in the final hour covered shorts accounted for nearly $12 million of about $13 million. In other words, a flush of longs was followed by a small squeeze of shorts within the same session. CoinDesk also placed the day one day before the anniversary of Oct. 10, 2025, when a record $19 billion was liquidated in a single day — about 16 times Thursday's total. Read the full price-action story in Bitcoin Breaks Below $83,000 as Oil Jumps.

Fast answers

How much ether was liquidated in the $1 billion flush?

CoinDesk reported about $356 million of ether positions liquidated over 24 hours, compared with $298 million for bitcoin, within a total of $1.19 billion across crypto, more than $1 billion of it from long positions.

Why was ether liquidated at six times bitcoin's rate?

CoinDesk calculated about $1.2 million of ETH liquidated per $1 billion of market value versus about $180,000 for BTC. Ether's market value is less than one-fifth of bitcoin's, so a similar dollar amount of liquidations is a much larger share of ETH's size. The article does not give an ETH-specific cause, and ETH also fell more than 3% against BTC's roughly 1%.

Do the reported liquidation figures add up?

No. The per-asset figures CoinDesk lists sum to about $903 million, while its reported total is $1.19 billion. The article does not explain the difference or name its data provider, so PumpReport presents both as reported.

What was the largest single liquidation?

CoinDesk identified a nearly $20 million ETH position on Hyperliquid, a decentralized exchange, as the largest single wipeout.

Sources: CoinDesk (Shaurya Malwa, Oct. 9, 2026). Per-asset and total figures as reported; data provider not named in the source.