Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP Crash as $1.7B Got Liquidated in 24 Hours | News

Currencies38693
Market Cap$ 2.71T+1.58%
24h Spot Volume$ 72.96B+3.39%
DominanceBTC56.96%-0.88%ETH10.76%+0.79%
ETH Gas0.11 Gwei
News
Aug 22, 2026
2min read
byRizwan Ansari
forCoinpedia

<img src="https://xpertsstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/why-is-the-crypto-market-crashing-today.jpg" alt="Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP Crash as $1.7B Got Liquidated in 24 Hours” loading=”lazy”>

On August 22 crypto markets suffered their biggest flash crash since October 2025, wiping $108 billion in six minutes as total market cap dropped from $2.68 trillion to $2.55 trillion and 281,846 traders saw about $1.71 billion in liquidations amid high leverage. Derivatives open interest fell $3.34 billion to roughly $55.6 billion, with Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP hit hardest (BTC to ~$76.5k with $257.8M in long liquidations; ETH to ~$2,426 with $293.3M; XRP down ~12% with $121.7M), altcoins lost ~$53 billion (TOTAL3 -6.7%), and $70,500 is now cited as key BTC support, highlighting continued market risk from leverage and forced liquidations.

See what traders are focused on

The crypto market just suffered its biggest flash crash since October 2025, wiping out $108 billion in just six minutes. The total market value fell from $2.68 trillion to $2.55 trillion as selling pressure increased. More than $1.71 billion in crypto positions were liquidated, hitting Bitcoin, Ethereum, and altcoins the hardest.

Crypto Rally Halt Turned Into $1.7B Liquidations

According to CoinGlass, 281,846 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours, causing around $1.71 billion in total losses. Most of the damage came from long positions, with $574 million wiped out in just four hours as Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies dropped sharply.

The liquidation wave also hit crypto derivatives markets hard. Open interest across cryptocurrencies fell by $3.34 billion, or 5.18%, in a short period, leaving total open interest at around $55.60 billion.

The sharp decline shows how quickly leverage was removed from the market.

Over the past four days, more than $4.5 billion in long positions have been liquidated across crypto, making it the seventh largest liquidation event in crypto history.

Bitcoin, ETH and XRP See Sharp Drops

At first, Bitcoin’s rally from $63,600 to $79,500 triggered around $2.7 billion in short liquidations. However, the trend reversed on August 22, putting heavily leveraged long positions under pressure.

Bitcoin fell to around $76,500 within six minutes, while long positions worth about $257.77 million were liquidated.

Ethereum also faced heavy selling, recording around $293.34 million in liquidations as its price dropped to about $2,426.

XRP saw the sharpest price decline among the three, falling about 12% from $1.70 to $1.51. The move led to around $121.71 million in XRP liquidations.

Altcoins Lose $53 Billion in Minutes

It’s not just Bitcoin or Ethereum, altcoins also saw massive liquidations. The TOTAL3 market cap, which tracks crypto excluding Bitcoin and Ethereum, fell from $784 billion to $731 billion in a single candle.

That means around $53 billion was wiped out in just minutes, a decline of about 6.7%. Bitcoin, meanwhile, fell roughly 2.5% during the same move.

$70,500 Becomes Bitcoin’s Key Support

Despite the recent drop, crypto analyst The Martini Guy believes Bitcoin’s overall uptrend is still intact. He pointed to $70,500 as the key support level after BTC moved from weeks of trading near $65,000 to breaking above $67,200 and then $70,500.

Bitcoin’s recent high near $78,800 is now the main resistance level. If BTC stays above $70,500, the analyst believes the broader recovery could continue despite the recent market liquidations. 

However, losing this support could weaken the current bullish setup and increase the risk of another decline.

Source: cryptorank.io