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Crypto Market Sees $431 Million in Liquidations in 24 Hours

The latest sell-off triggered $431 million in forced crypto position closures over 24 hours, with long positions accounting for most losses and Bitcoin and Ether leading liquidations.

BTC

Fact Check
The PANews article (019e2c43-01ad-75b1-95d5-de9ac00949e2) directly and precisely confirms the $431 million (4.31亿 USD) total liquidation figure over 24 hours, citing CoinAnk data as of May 15 2026. It confirms that long positions accounted for the majority of losses ($341M vs $90M shorts), and that Bitcoin ($111M) and Ether ($90.78M) led liquidations — all consistent with the claim. The Odaily article corroborates a major liquidation spike on May 15 (over $208M in just 1 hour). The earlier PANews article from May 14 shows a lower figure ($244M) for a different 24-hour window, indicating the sell-off intensified. The only minor uncertainty is that the claim attributes the event to May 13, while the $431M figure appears in the May 15 PANews report covering the preceding 24 hours — a minor temporal framing difference, not a factual discrepancy.
Summary

The crypto market recorded $431 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours, indicating a larger wave of forced closures than the older report of more than $326 million in long liquidations alone. Long positions accounted for $341 million of the total, while short positions made up $90.15 million, showing that bullish leveraged bets absorbed most of the losses. Bitcoin led liquidations with $111 million, followed by Ether at $90.79 million. Such events typically occur when leveraged positions breach margin requirements and exchanges automatically close them, often intensifying downside volatility and short-term price pressure.

Terms & Concepts
  • Liquidation: An automatic closure of a leveraged trading position when losses cause it to fall below required margin levels.
  • Long liquidation: The forced closure of a leveraged position that was betting prices would rise after market losses trigger an exchange’s risk controls.
  • Leverage: Borrowed exposure that allows traders to control larger positions with less capital, increasing both potential gains and losses.