The Two-Day Whipsaw
Bitcoin liquidations hit $820 million on October 12 as the price slid below $82,000, with longs accounting for 84% of the total. But the part most outlets missed came 48 hours later: the bounce back above $83,000 triggered another $58 million in bitcoin and ethereum liquidations, this time crushing shorts at nearly the same rate.
CoinGlass recorded the initial carnage at $820.84 million over 24 hours on October 12, affecting 170,649 traders. Longs made up $689 million of that figure. Bitcoin dropped from around $84,200 to a low near $81,000 by Monday evening Eastern time, extending a decline that began after hawkish FOMC minutes pushed the dollar index above 102 for the first time in 18 months.
The Block reported a similar total at $771 million, with $685.6 million in longs. Bitcoin.com's figure came in at $488.61 million. The variation reflects different 24-hour windows and the fact that public liquidation trackers may understate actual forced closures, particularly on exchanges that report data inconsistently.
Shorts Took the Other Side
By October 14, the narrative flipped. Bitcoin recovered to $83,554, reclaiming the $82,000-$83,000 range. Bitcoin liquidations over the following 24 hours totaled $32.50 million, but this time shorts made up $25.45 million, or 78.3%. Combined with ethereum's $26.36 million, where shorts dominated at nearly 60%, the two assets accounted for $58.86 million in forced closures, with the majority betting against the rally.
The largest single liquidation on October 14 was a $3.95 million bitcoin short on Binance's BTCUSDT perpetual contract. The day prior, CoinGlass had recorded $193.5 million in bitcoin liquidations, with longs still making up about 74%, suggesting the transition from long-dominated to short-dominated closures happened in stages as the price stabilized.
What Drove the Reversal
The initial drop on October 12 came as U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs posted $681.1 million in net outflows over the prior week, their worst performance since late June, according to SoSoValue. Spot ethereum ETFs recorded $542 million in outflows. Zeus Research's Dominick John pointed to cooling institutional demand, elevated Treasury yields, a stronger dollar, and defensive positioning ahead of September's CPI data.
South Korea's Kospi index fell 6.1% on October 13, triggering a circuit breaker. Presto Research linked the drop to weakness in U.S. semiconductor stocks spilling into Asian markets. Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee said the Korean sell-off was amplifying the cascade that had already begun.
By October 13, spot buyers stepped in near $81,000. Fed speakers John Williams and Christopher Waller softened the hawkish tone from the FOMC minutes, with Williams saying one more rate hike this year may be appropriate but none should be needed next year. The dollar index pulled back to 101.79. Open interest in bitcoin perpetual futures stood at around $66.94 billion by October 14, stabilizing as the shakeout cleared excess positions.
The Pattern Repeats
Whipsaw liquidations are not new. In late September, a similar pattern played out when bitcoin rallied 32% in a short squeeze, wiping out about $900 million in 24 hours on September 22, with shorts making up 86% to 90% of the total.
The $820 million headline from October 12 captured the scale of the initial drop, but the $58 million in short liquidations two days later tells the other half. Traders who bet on further downside after the crash found themselves on the wrong side as bitcoin reclaimed $83,000 ahead of the CPI print. The market's ability to reverse direction in less than 48 hours left positions exposed on both sides.