Ether bets were wiped out at six times bitcoin’s rate in crypto’s $1 billion flush
Bitcoin slid from about $83,200 to as low as roughly $80,400 late Thursday after Fed minutes showed most officials expected another rate hike before year-end and a report that the Pentagon was preparing for renewed combat in Iran pushed oil higher.
Ethereum researcher Justin Drake’s warning that AI could break the math securing crypto wallets sooner than expected added to the nerves. Traders had been piling on leverage all week as bitcoin bounced between $83,000 and $87,000, leaving plenty of positions to knock over once the range broke.
Read More: Bitcoin and ether holders urged to enter ‘bunker mode’ against possible AI attacks
Shorts are now paying for the bounce. Bitcoin recovered to about $82,200 after President Trump said the U.S. would not strike Iran before the midterms, and about 78% of the roughly $25 million liquidated over the past four hours came from traders betting on further declines. In the past hour alone, shorts made up nearly $12 million of about $13 million.
The squeeze comes a day before the anniversary of Oct. 10, 2025, when a record $19 billion was liquidated in a single day, roughly 16 times Thursday’s total. Bitcoin now sits about $800 below $83,000, the level where Thursday’s selling began.