BTC ETH rebound triggers $460M liquidations

TLDR

Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) bounced after a sharp selloff, triggering a large short squeeze in leveraged futures.

1. Roughly 460.9 million in leveraged crypto positions were liquidated in 24 hours as BTC and ETH rebounded, with liquidations heavily skewed toward shorts.
2. The squeeze followed extreme bearish positioning, including very negative Binance funding rates, so rising prices forced short covering and added fuel to the move.
3. Leverage and sentiment still look fragile, so watching funding, open interest, and new liquidation waves is key to judging whether this rebound can last.

Deep Dive

1. How Big the Liquidations Were

Over 24 hours ending 18 June, nearly 460.9 million in leveraged positions were liquidated as BTC and ETH bounced from recent lows. Most of that was forced closing of short positions.

By asset, BTC saw about 92.44 million liquidated and ETH about 99.41 million, with shorts making up the majority in both. Major altcoins like SOL, DOGE, XRP, BNB, AVAX, and SUI each saw eight figure liquidation totals, showing the stress was market wide.

The article notes that in the latest four hour window alone, 19.34 million was liquidated, with Binance accounting for nearly half, underscoring how concentrated leverage is on a few large venues.

2. Why a Short Squeeze Happened

Perpetual futures funding data showed extreme bearish positioning going into the move. A CoinsKid community analysis highlighted the Binance funding rate running 370 basis points below a three exchange median, in the bottom 2.8 percent of readings since 2021, signaling an unusually crowded short side.

As spot and futures prices turned up, those shorts started hitting their liquidation levels. That triggered margin calls and automatic buy backs, which pushed prices higher, causing more short liquidations in a classic squeeze loop.

At the same time, total perpetuals open interest has ticked up in the last day and average funding flipped modestly positive, suggesting leverage is still present but no longer one sided.

3. What To Watch Next

Three things matter now:

1. Liquidation intensity versus price action - if price rises on shrinking liquidations, buying is becoming healthier.
2. Funding rates and open interest - extended positive funding with rising open interest can signal over leveraged longs replacing over leveraged shorts.
3. Macro and sentiment - the market is still in an extreme fear zone on many gauges, and a hawkish Federal Reserve backdrop can quickly flip risk appetite again.

If leverage builds again in one direction, another sharp squeeze, up or down, becomes more likely.

Conclusion

This move was a textbook short squeeze: extremely crowded BTC and ETH shorts met a rebound, producing about 460 million of forced liquidations and a fast price spike. The key question now is whether real spot demand follows or whether leverage simply tilts from shorts to longs, which would keep the market vulnerable to another violent reversal.