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Leveraged Bitcoin traders are getting demolished. Daily liquidations have nearly tripled year-over-year, jumping from $28 million to $68 million as futures markets reach dangerous levels of speculation, according to a new report from Glassnode and Fasanara Capital.
The carnage peaked on October 10 during what researchers called “Early Black Friday,” when more than $640 million in long positions were wiped out in a single hour as Bitcoin crashed from $121,000 to $102,000. Open interest collapsed 22% in just 12 hours—one of the sharpest deleveraging events in Bitcoin’s history.
Daily crypto liquidations have nearly tripled year-over-year, Glassnode confirmed, with average futures wipeouts jumping from $28 million in long liquidations and $15 million in shorts during the previous cycle to a staggering $68 million in long positions and $45 million in short exposures today.
The spike mirrors the aggressive rise in open interest across major derivatives markets. The report highlights how these Daily crypto liquidations now shape the tone of each market swing, affecting everything from intraday sentiment to institutional risk management.
The most dramatic example occurred on Oct. 10, during what researchers dubbed “Early Black Friday.” In a stunning cascade, more than $640 million in long positions per hour were wiped out as Bitcoin (BTC) plunged from $121,000 to $102,000.
This was one of the sharpest deleveraging events in Bitcoin’s history, Glassnode analysts wrote, citing a 22% collapse in open interest within just 12 hours — from $49.5 billion to $38.8 billion.
Futures trading has exploded, with open interest hitting a record $67.9 billion. Daily futures turnover reached as high as $68.9 billion in mid-October, with perpetual contracts accounting for more than 90% of activity. This shift has fueled even more Daily crypto liquidations, reinforcing a market where price discovery frequently begins — and ends — in derivatives.
Spot demand is also intensifying. Bitcoin’s spot trading volume has doubled since the prior cycle, now fluctuating between $8 billion and $22 billion per day. During the Oct. 10 crash, hourly spot volume surged to $7.3 billion, signaling buyers moving aggressively into the dip.
The rise of U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs has rebalanced the market and pushed price discovery back toward the cash market, said Nic Carter, partner at Castle Island Ventures, while speaking to CNBC earlier this month. His comment aligns with the report’s conclusion that leverage is increasingly built into futures while spot flows anchor long-term direction.
Monthly capital inflows into Bitcoin now range from $40 billion to $190 billion, lifting realized market capitalization to an all-time high of $1.1 trillion. More than $732 billion has entered the network since the November 2022 market bottom — exceeding all combined inflows from previous cycles.
Glassnode added: This highlights a more institutionally anchored and structurally mature market environment.
Remarkably, over the past 90 days, Bitcoin processed $6.9 trillion in settlement volume — surpassing Visa and Mastercard over the same period. The report also shows that 6.7 million BTC is now held across ETFs, corporate treasuries, and institutional balance sheets.
ETFs alone have absorbed 1.5 million BTC since early 2024, further tightening supply as centralized exchange balances decline. Daily crypto liquidations are erupting across the market as a surge in leveraged futures positions pushes Bitcoin traders into one of the most volatile cycles in recent history.
What began as routine derivatives activity has escalated into a high-stakes battleground, with billions wiped out in hours and open interest collapsing at record speed. Analysts say this spike in Daily crypto liquidations signals a market dangerously overheated — and one now dominated by aggressive futures trading that’s reshaping Bitcoin’s entire price-discovery process.
