Bitcoin, Ether, XRP Force 2,633% Liquidation Imbalance Amid Sticky US Inflation Short Squeeze

Even though prices for more than half of the components in the PCE basket are still rising faster than the target rate, short sellers instantly found themselves trapped. The market interpreted cooling inflation as a green light for risk assets, triggering a cascade of forced liquidations of leveraged positions.

According to analytics platform CoinGlass, the market steamrolled 73,709 traders over 24 hours, wiping out $259.12 million in positions. The epicenter of the catastrophe was an extreme one-hour imbalance: when the data was released, short liquidations surged to $82.61 million, while longs lost a mere $3.09 million. This 2,633% imbalance turned an ordinary price move into a classic macroeconomic short squeeze.

Plenty of reasons to sell, zero actual sellers. What is happening with crypto right now.

The main drivers of the rally, absorbing most of the sellers' liquidity, were three key assets: Bitcoin, Ether, and $XRP.

Bitcoin, which maintains a firm hold on nearly 59% of the entire crypto market, reached $83,825.17 at the peak of the move. Bitcoin short sellers accounted for more than $51.69 million in losses over 24 hours. The hardest hit came on the HTX exchange, where a single BTC-USDT position was forcibly liquidated for $6.91 million.