Crypto derivatives markets recorded nearly $483 million in Bitcoin and Ether futures liquidations over 24 hours on Thursday as falling prices forced leveraged traders out of their positions. Ether traders suffered the heavier impact, accounting for almost 60% of the combined liquidations.

Market pressure intensified as uncertainty over the Federal Reserve’s next interest-rate decision weighed on investor sentiment. Bitcoin traded near $81,000, down around 3% over 24 hours, while Ether declined more than 6% to approximately $2,350. XRP and Solana’s SOL lost about 5% each, while Dogecoin dropped roughly 6%.

CoinGlass data reviewed during the Asian morning session showed that Ether futures liquidations reached approximately $286 million, compared with $197 million for Bitcoin. Ether’s price fell about 6.4% to $2,356, roughly twice Bitcoin’s decline of 3.2%, which left BTC trading close to $81,000.

Liquidations occur when traders use borrowed capital to increase the size of their market positions and price movements leave them without sufficient collateral to meet margin requirements. Exchanges automatically close these positions when the required thresholds are breached. For example, someone using $1,000 in collateral to control a $10,000 position could face liquidation after a relatively small adverse price move, depending on the platform’s margin rules and other position details.

Forced closures can intensify an existing market decline because traders may be pushed out of positions at prevailing prices rather than choosing when to sell. When many leveraged long positions are liquidated together, the resulting selling can put additional pressure on prices.

Ether’s liquidation total was higher than Bitcoin’s despite a smaller futures market. Outstanding Ether futures contracts amounted to approximately $30 billion, compared with around $52 billion for Bitcoin.

The liquidation figures represent the total value of positions forcibly closed, not the precise amount of money traders lost. Individual losses depend on factors such as collateral, leverage, entry prices and execution during the liquidation process.

The downturn also affected other digital assets. Solana futures saw roughly $31 million in liquidations as SOL dropped about 5.5%. Zcash futures recorded nearly $19 million in forced closures, while ZEC’s price declined approximately 13%.