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- Bitcoinperpetual futures recorded approximately$1.1 billionin short position liquidations within 24 hours.
- The total liquidation volume in the cryptocurrency market reached$1.92 billionon the same day.
- The price of the leading cryptocurrency touched an intraday high of$68,982.40before stabilizing above$68,100.
During the day on August 19, the price ofBitcoincame close to touching$70,000following a 5.4% rally that forced the massive closure of bearish operations on major derivatives platforms.
The first-ever daily billion-dollar short liquidation volume in $BTC, and of course, also the largest short liquidation volume in $BTC ever!
*Binance limited its liquidation data in April 2021, while Bybit limited its data between September 2021 and February 2025. pic.twitter.com/UCIGftzSqt
— Vetle Lunde (@VetleLunde) August 19, 2026
Records from theCoinGeckoplatform confirmed that the quote advanced to a peak of$68,982.40. This movement represents the highest price level for the asset since June.
The forced adjustment of positions in the derivatives market reached unprecedented proportions. A technical report published byK33 Researchrevealed thatBitcoinperpetual futures contracts absorbed nearly$1.1 billionin liquidations exclusively from short positions in a single day.
Vetle Lunde, head of research atK33 Research, indicated that this is the first daily record exceeding one billion dollars in short liquidations for this asset. According to the firm’s historical analysis, the event surpassed previous records of $757 million documented in May 2021 and $694 million observed in November 2025.
Lunde specified that this historical comparison must be evaluated considering the data restrictions that platforms likeBinanceapplied starting in April 2021.
Impact on exchanges and macroeconomic catalysts
In the global market balance, metrics provided byCoinGlassreported$1.92 billionin total cryptocurrency liquidations over the last 24 hours. Of that global figure,$1.74 billioncorresponded to traders positioned to the downside.
Most of this activity was concentrated in a critical four-hour window, a period during which$1.73 billionwas liquidated.
The decentralized exchangeHyperliquidregistered the largest individual order of the day: a position in the $BTC-USD pair valued at$48.8 million. Meanwhile,Binanceaccumulated close to$517.6 millionin forcibly closed contracts during that same interval.
The upward movement coincided with monetary policy announcements in the United States. TheDepartment of the Treasurycommunicated on August 19 that it will double the operating limit of its buybacks to support the liquidity of long-term nominal securities.
Following this measure, the yield on 30-yearTreasury bondsincreased to reach 5.34%, placing it at its highest level since 2007. Industry analysts suggest that this change in the government debt market incentivized the rotation of capital toward higher volatility assets.
The attention of market participants is now directed toward the upcoming debt auction and buyback execution by theU.S. Treasury, scheduled for the end of the month.
Source: cryptonews.net