Crypto liquidations reached $1.49 billion in the 24 hours to early October 30, 2026, according to Coinglass data cited by BeInCrypto. Traders betting on higher Bitcoin prices took the heaviest losses. The wipeout hit as Bitcoin slipped below $80,000 and Binance scrambled to contain what several outlets call the largest crypto hack on record.
Key Takeaways
- Long positions made up $1.29 billion, or 86.8%, of the $1.49 billion liquidated, with 243,456 traders forced out (Coinglass, via BeInCrypto).
- Bitcoin led with $475.19 million in liquidations, followed by Ethereum at $330.59 million.
- Hyperliquid (HYPE) and TRON (TRX) rallied against the sell-off. HYPE’s liquidations came mostly from short sellers.
- The drop overlapped with Binance’s suspected hack, though BeInCrypto said prices began falling before the first wallet alerts.
What happened in the latest crypto liquidations
Forced closures cleared $1.49 billion of leveraged positions in a single day, BeInCrypto reported on October 30 at 01:49 UTC. Longs accounted for $1.29 billion of that. Shorts absorbed just $197.08 million.
Over 12 hours, liquidations hit $1.33 billion, close to 90% of the daily total, according to figures also carried by Yahoo Finance.
| Asset | 24h liquidations | Share from longs |
|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin (BTC) | $475.19 million | 87.6% |
| Ethereum (ETH) | $330.59 million | 84.7% |
| Solana (SOL) | $82.50 million | n/a |
| XRP | $37.56 million | n/a |
| Hyperliquid (HYPE) | $30.86 million | Mostly shorts |
| Smaller tokens combined | $178.72 million | 89.2% |
The wave reached contracts tied to traditional assets too. Contracts tracking silver saw $15.23 million in liquidations, and SanDisk contracts logged $16.06 million. Lookonchain flagged one trader, known as Machi. He was liquidated eight times in six hours and was left with $1.50 in his Hyperliquid account.
Background and context: a hawkish Fed, then a record hack
The market was already fragile before the Binance news broke. On October 29, Bitcoin reversed a two-day rebound and dropped below $80,000 as tech stocks weakened and the Federal Reserve’s hawkish hold hit risk appetite, CoinDesk’s markets desk reported. Around $356 million in futures had been liquidated over 24 hours at that point, with leveraged longs bearing the brunt. For more on the tech side, see our report on Samsung stock.
Then came the hack. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis put its estimate of the amount stolen at about $5.912 billion at the time of theft, while CNBC described the impact as $6.3 billion. Axios reported that the attackers were allegedly linked to North Korea. CoinDesk said Binance held roughly $144 billion in assets before the incident, per DefiLlama. It also reported that a compromised engineer’s laptop may have been the main cause. We’ve tracked the early numbers in our report on the biggest crypto hack in history.
Binance spokesperson Ross O’Leary said the exchange had “temporarily suspended withdrawals on multiple networks” as a precaution, TechCrunch reported. Co-founder Yi He said, according to Axios, that “Binance will cover all hacking losses.” Binance posted on X that “the current verified total frozen is $2.54 billion,” per CNBC. CNBC also reported that Yi He said Ripple helped halt the movement of $200 million in funds linked to the possible attack. Separately, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said his firm froze about $1.6 billion, according to Yahoo Finance.
But the timing is messy. BeInCrypto noted that prices started sliding before the first wallet alerts surfaced. A direct link between the sell-off and the Binance incident therefore remains unproven.
Market reaction across major coins
When BeInCrypto published, its market data had Bitcoin at $77,111, down 4.67% in 24 hours. CoinGecko data from 05:13 UTC on October 30 showed the following snapshot.
| Asset | Price (05:13 UTC, Oct 30) | 24h change | 24h range |
|---|---|---|---|
| BTC | $78,534 | -2.28% | $76,443 to $81,840 |
| ETH | $2,248.90 | -3.47% | $2,178.62 to $2,373.22 |
| BNB | $719.59 | -5.02% | $682.36 to $755.22 |
| XRP | $1.26 | -3.23% | $1.20 to $1.31 |
| SOL | $97.76 | -2.72% | $92.64 to $102.94 |
BNB posted the steepest 24-hour drop of these five coins on CoinGecko. That may reflect concern around Binance, though the data itself doesn’t show a cause. Bitcoin sits about 29% below its level a year ago and well under its $126,080 peak from October 2025.
Two tokens went the other way, BeInCrypto said. HYPE rose 12.74% to $90.37 and had already been rising after reports that ICE plans US futures on Hyperliquid. TRX climbed 9.34% to $0.3601. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index read 30, or “Fear”, on October 30.
What to watch next after the crypto liquidations
The first thing is Binance itself. Traders will watch when deposits and withdrawals reopen and whether the exchange’s pledge to cover losses holds up. Our earlier coverage of crypto liquidations amid Binance hack fears has more on the initial reaction.
Figures for the hack still differ by source, with Chainalysis estimating $5.912 billion stolen and CNBC citing a $6.3 billion impact. How much ends up frozen or recovered could shape sentiment. Polymarket also disclosed a breach at a third-party provider the same day, CoinDesk reported.
For scale, this day’s crypto liquidations were smaller than the roughly $1.8 billion wiped out on June 2. More than 272,000 traders were liquidated that day, per CoinGlass data cited by Bitcoin Foundation. Leverage magnifies losses in both directions, and positions can be closed out entirely within hours. Exchange custody risk is also back in focus, since funds held on a platform depend on its security and solvency.
FAQ
What caused the $1.49 billion in crypto liquidations?
BeInCrypto said a broad price drop pushed leveraged long positions past their margin limits. Earlier on October 29, CoinDesk tied Bitcoin’s fall below $80,000 to tech stock weakness and a hawkish Fed hold. The sell-off also overlapped with the Binance hack, though a direct link isn’t proven.
How much was stolen in the Binance hack?
Estimates differ. Chainalysis put it at about $5.912 billion, while CNBC reported an impact of $6.3 billion. Binance said $2.54 billion had been verified as frozen.
Do large liquidation days mean prices will keep falling?
Not necessarily. Liquidations show where leverage was crowded, not where prices go next. Markets can keep falling or rebound, and nobody can reliably predict which.
Sources
- Bitcoin Bulls Take the Biggest Hit in a $1.49 Billion Crypto Liquidation Day (BeInCrypto)
- Bitcoin Bulls Take the Biggest Hit in a $1.49 Billion Crypto Liquidation Day (finance.yahoo.com)
- Binance loses over $6 billion in the largest crypto hack to date (www.coindesk.com)
- Biggest-ever crypto hack impacts $6.3 billion as Binance works to contain fallout (www.cnbc.com)
- Crypto platform Binance confirms major hack, more than $2.5bn frozen (finance.yahoo.com)
- Binance pauses withdrawals as hackers suspected of stealing billions in crypto (techcrunch.com)
- Binance probes possible $5.7 billion crypto hack, possibly the biggest in history (www.axios.com)
- BTC price dips below $80,000, liquidating $356 million in crypto longs (www.coindesk.com)
- Crypto Liquidations Hit $1.8B in Biggest 2026 Wipeout So Far (bitcoinfoundation.org)
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile; always do your own research before investing.
For advertising inquiries, please email . [email protected] or Telegram
