Bitcoin (BTC) Longs Absorb $155 Million in 24-Hour Perpetual Liquidations

Longs Bear the Brunt in Perpetual Futures

Leveraged long traders in Bitcoin (BTC) were closed out by force to the tune of $154.85 million over the trailing 24 hours, with 85.44% of that total booked on the long side of the derivatives market, per aggregate liquidation tracking across major perpetual futures venues as of early August 29, 2026 (UTC). Perpetual futures, the most heavily traded crypto derivatives product, carry no expiry date and track spot prices through funding payments; when price moves sharply against a leveraged holder, the exchange's risk engine closes the position automatically — a forced liquidation. What played out here was squarely a long squeeze: falling prices, not rising ones, did the closing, and leveraged buyers were the ones sold. The long-side share matters as much as the dollar figure. A ratio above 85% means short positions were barely touched — this was not a two-way flush but an asymmetric deleveraging that fell almost entirely on traders betting prices would rise. The sweep was not confined to Bitcoin (BTC) derivatives: across the wider altcoin market, Ethereum (ETH) recorded $97.65 million in liquidations over the same window, 77.97% of it from longs, while Solana (SOL) saw $23.12 million flushed, 68.67% of it long-side. Across the three largest assets by liquidation volume, forced closings totaled roughly $275.6 million in a single session — a meaningful shakeout, though well short of the extremes recorded in historic cascade days. The percentages also show how uniformly leverage was tilted: all three assets skewed long, with BTC the most lopsided at 85.44%, ETH close behind at 77.97%, and SOL — where a larger short book survived — at 68.67%.

Reading the Long-Side Skew

The composition of the wipeout says as much about positioning as the totals do. Long ratios near 85% on BTC and 78% on ETH indicate that leverage entering the session was overwhelmingly tilted toward upside bets, leaving the market structurally fragile to any downward move. When a large share of open positions sits close to its liquidation threshold, an ordinary pullback can convert into a cascade, as one forced sale pushes price toward the next threshold and triggers the next round of closures. That reflex is what derivatives desks watch — not the dollar headline, but the crowding behind it. Two limits of the data deserve plain language. The aggregate figures report dollar value and the long/short split; they do not disclose how many individual accounts were closed, or whether a single oversized position — a crypto whale — accounted for a disproportionate slice. Nor do they separate retail leverage from institutional hedging. What the numbers do establish is scale and direction: nearly $276 million of forced selling in 24 hours, almost all of it long, which mechanically strips open interest from the book and leaves the survivors less leveraged than before. A post-flush market with washed-out leverage can stabilize more easily than a crowded one, though that is a tendency, not a rule. Spot holders — the cohort that continues to HODL through drawdowns — were untouched by any of this, since liquidations strike only margined positions. The forced selling also landed against a supply backdrop still shaped by the Bitcoin halving schedule, which keeps new issuance tight regardless of where leverage stands. Traders sizing up the next round of leveraged positioning can weigh depth and risk controls in our guide to the best crypto exchanges. Readers tracking the market in real time can follow live spot and futures prices on Gate.

$75,495 Support in Focus

COINOTAG's proprietary 42-indicator composite S/R scoring engine puts spot BTC at $77,534, down 2.88% over 24 hours, with its strongest support at $75,495.59 rated 83/100 on the confluence of ATR Lower, S2, Ichimoku Tenkan and a MACD Cross. The nearest resistance, $78,338.03, scores 74/100, driven by HVN, LVN, Pivot Point and Fibo 0.114. Positioning looks complacent: funding 0.0039%, open interest near $14.9 billion, a 1.23 long/short ratio, Fear & Greed at 68 (Greed). The bullish case holds while $75,495 does; a close below it — or the $73,460.78 shelf at 68/100 (Ichimoku Kijun, Fibo 0.382, Supertrend) — invalidates it. The takeaway remains the aggregate: $154.85 million in BTC liquidations over 24 hours.