Crypto markets delivered another harsh lesson on the risks of leverage over the past 24 hours, as abrupt price swings triggered more than $625 million in liquidations and caught traders on both sides of the market off guard.

Data from CoinGlass showed that around 150,000 traders were forced out of positions, with losses split almost evenly between bullish and bearish bets. Roughly $306 million in long positions were wiped out, while about $319 million in shorts were liquidated — an unusually balanced outcome that underscored how quickly prices reversed during the session.

The largest single liquidation was recorded on Hyperliquid, where a $40.22 million ETH-USD position was forcibly closed. The platform also led all venues in total liquidations, with approximately $220.8 million erased. More than 72% of those losses came from short positions, suggesting traders were heavily positioned for further downside just as prices rebounded.

Other major exchanges also saw substantial activity. Binance logged around $120.8 million in liquidations, skewed toward long positions, while Bybit saw nearly $95 million wiped out, with longs again slightly outweighing shorts.

The liquidation wave unfolded alongside sharp intraday moves in bitcoin, which briefly slipped below $88,000 before rebounding toward the $90,000 level.

Those swings came amid heightened macro uncertainty, driven by shifting expectations around U.S. trade policy, ongoing bond market volatility, and investor reaction to comments from U.S. President Donald Trump during his appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

For leveraged traders, the combination proved punishing. Initial downside momentum triggered long liquidations that accelerated the selloff. As prices snapped back, short positions were quickly caught offside, unleashing a second wave of forced closures in the opposite direction. The result was a classic whipsaw that left both bulls and bears absorbing losses.

Two-way liquidation events like this tend to emerge when markets are caught between competing narratives, with no clear trend and little margin for error. In this case, fast-moving macro headlines drove rapid shifts in sentiment, while leverage amplified each move.

As traders look ahead, attention will remain on whether volatility cools or continues to flare. Until clearer direction emerges, the latest liquidation episode suggests restraint — rather than aggressive leverage — may be the wiser approach.