TLDR
BTC liquidations swung sharply this week. Daily totals ranged from roughly $191 million on a down day to $346.67 million on a volatility spike, with the mix flipping between longs and shorts (market update, session recap).
- On 4 Dec, 24h liquidations were about $223 million, with $209.5 million shorts as price rallied (AMBCrypto).
- On 5 Dec, market-wide liquidations hit $493 million; Bitcoin accounted for $191 million, mostly longs across the market (daily wrap).
- On 7 Dec, a whale-driven sell-off liquidated $171 million longs in one hour; 24h total reached $346.67 million (intraday recap).
Deep Dive
1. Longs vs Shorts Rotation
Liquidations flipped direction as price action changed. When BTC spiked, shorts were hit; when BTC fell, longs suffered.
- 4 Dec: Liquidations were $223 million in 24h, with $209.5 million shorts (rally squeeze) (AMBCrypto).
- 5 Dec: Market-wide liquidations $493 million, with $412 million longs (sell-off flush); BTCs share was $191 million (daily wrap).
- 7 Dec: $171 million longs liquidated in one hour during a rapid drop, then $346.67 million over 24h (intraday recap).
The mix shifts with direction. Rallies punish shorts; downdrafts punish longs. Monitoring the side of leverage helps anticipate liquidation waves.
2. Magnitude and Triggers
This weeks daily BTC liquidation footprint moved between roughly $191 million and $346.67 million, with intraday spikes when liquidity thinned (daily wrap, intraday recap).
- Indicative thresholds: Above $93,440%%CKPROTECTED2%% implied short liquidations near $1.059 billion across exchanges; below $85,376%%CKPROTECTED6%% implied long liquidations near $980 million (estimates based on liquidation maps) (Binance Square post).
- Smaller windows also registered fast flushes, for example $100 million longs cleared within 30 minutes during a PCE-driven whipsaw (session note).
Liquidation risk clusters around well-watched levels. If price approaches those bands, leverage can cascade quickly.
3. Drivers This Week
Catalysts included macro positioning into the Fed meeting and episodic whale flows.
- Pre?FOMC risk?on spikes prompted short squeezes (e.g., $209.5 million shorts liquidated on the rally day) (AMBCrypto).
- Sudden sell?pressure from large wallets triggered rapid long flushes ($171 million in one hour), followed by quick rebounds as spot demand re?entered (intraday recap).
Near high?impact macro windows, leverage build?ups unwind fast. Expect elevated liquidation sensitivity around policy decisions and large wallet activity.
Conclusion
BTC liquidations changed meaningfully over the past week, swinging between roughly $191 million and $346.67 million per day, with the balance flipping between longs and shorts as price direction shifted. The biggest waves clustered near key levels and macro catalysts. Watching price bands near $93k and $85k can help anticipate which side of leverage is most at risk (see the liquidation thresholds in the notice above).
