Ethereum Drops 2.9% as $180.8M in 24-Hour Liquidations Hit
The Ethereum market is showing a sharp deleveraging event: ETH fell 2.9% to $2,659.54, while 24-hour liquidations reached $180.8 million. Long positions absorbed $157.6 million of that total, compared with $23.2 million in short liquidations. The combination points to an aggressive flush of bullish leverage rather than a balanced two-way reset.
Longs Took the First Hit
The liquidation pressure accelerated across the shorter windows. One-hour liquidations totaled $31.6 million, including $31.5 million in longs, while the four-hour total reached $39.5 million, with $38.7 million from long positions. Across 12 hours, the total rose to $57.3 million, and long liquidations still dominated at $42.3 million.
The 24-hour count reached 9,846 liquidation events. That breadth matters because the move was not limited to one isolated account or venue. It shows that crowded bullish positioning was being forced out as price weakened.
Open Interest Is Contracting
Total open interest across 21 exchanges stood at $26.7 billion, down 4.3% over 24 hours. Binance held $6.0 billion and declined 7.4%, while Bybit held $2.1 billion and fell 7.0%. Gate recorded $2.8 billion and the steepest contraction among the larger listed venues at 7.8%.
Bitget was the exception, with $2.1 billion in open interest and a 0.4% daily increase. That isolated expansion did not offset the broader contraction. ETH open interest was also down 1.5% over the latest hour, reinforcing the view that traders were reducing exposure into the selloff.
Positioning Still Leans Long
Account positioning remains tilted toward longs, with 63.9% of tracked accounts long and 36.1% short. Binance showed the strongest imbalance at 73.7% long, while Bybit stood at 66.3% and Bitget at 67.9%. Taker positioning was less one-sided: Binance was 58.3% long, OKX was nearly balanced at 49.6% long, and Gate was 60.2% short.
The average funding rate was 0.002132%, still positive, while the current venue readings were mixed. Bybit was negative at -0.001126%, but Bitget was positive at 0.0076%. This split suggests that leverage has been reduced, yet bullish positioning has not been fully cleared.
Verdict: ETH remains under pressure while price is below $2,659.54 and total open interest stays under $26.7 billion. The immediate signal is bearish deleveraging, with crowded longs still vulnerable. A sustained move back above $2,659.54 alongside open interest rebuilding above $26.7 billion would invalidate this view; without that combination, the liquidation shock remains the dominant signal. Data as of 18:05 Beijing time on Sep 24, covering Binance, OKX, Bybit and other major venues.