ETH Shorts Paid 64% of $134M; Hyperliquid OI -17% in 4H

ETH Shorts Paid 64% of a $134M Day

ETH futures liquidations totaled $134.2M over the past 24 hours, and the pain was one-sided: short positions accounted for $86.1M, or 64% of the total. The flush came as ETH pushed to an intraday high near $2,533 before easing back to $2,472 (Binance $2,472.93, OKX $2,473.13 at the time of writing). The 24-hour range ran from $2,423 to $2,533, a band that rewarded early buyers and kept punishing bears who added late.

The largest single wipe was a $6.91M short on Binance, with a $5.08M short close behind. Most of the damage to shorts happened in the rally leg; the last hour flipped, and longs started paying as BTC got rejected near $80,000.

Leverage Left Hyperliquid in a Hurry

The more telling move sits in open interest. Total ETH open interest is $24.16B, up 1.2% on the day, but the distribution shifted fast. Binance OI grew 3.8% to $6.01B, a 24.9% share of the market, and OKX added 3.3%. Hyperliquid went the other way: OI down 9.8% over 24 hours and 17.4% in the last four hours alone. Bybit also trimmed 3.9% in the same four-hour window. In plain terms, leveraged positions are either being closed or moving off Hyperliquid onto centralized venues.

Funding Stayed Mild Through the Squeeze

Funding never got hot. The average funding rate on ETH is 0.0055% per eight-hour period, with Binance and OKX at 0.01% and Hyperliquid at 0.00125% on its hourly settlement. A 64% short-side liquidation day usually prints a funding spike; this one did not. That detail matters because it suggests the squeeze ran on spot demand and hedging rather than crowded leverage, and longs are paying little to hold their positions.

What to Watch Next

Two signals decide the next leg. First, whether Hyperliquid OI keeps sliding; the -17% four-hour print is the fastest unwind on ETH since the crash week, and if it stabilizes, the flush is done. Second, whether Binance OI keeps climbing while price holds above $2,450. That combination would point to fresh long positioning on the biggest venue rather than simple covering. If ETH loses $2,423, the 24-hour low, the short-heavy structure resets and the setup changes entirely.

Data as of 02:10 Beijing time, Aug 25, covering Binance, OKX, Bybit, Hyperliquid, Gate, Bitget and other major exchanges.