Long liquidations across the market approached $1.78 billion, while short liquidations were much smaller at close to $130 million. A rapid shift followed a strong US jobs report, which removed odds of a December rate cut and triggered roughly $450 million in liquidations in just two hours. That macro surprise appears to have fed directly into traders’ risk management systems.
Derivatives activity added pressure as more than $4.2 billion of crypto options were due to expire that day. Over 39,000 BTC options, valued near $3.4 billion, were on the docket. The longer-term put-call ratio sat at 0.52, but heavy recent put buying pushed the 24-hour ratio up to 1.36, signaling a burst of hedging.
The so-called max pain level for Bitcoin was around $98,000, well above where spot trades were happening. Ether options also featured prominently, with more than 185,000 contracts worth close to $525 million set to lapse. ETH’s 24-hour put-call moved to 1.01 from 0.72, and the options market’s max pain rested near $3,200, above spot prices near $2,800.
On-chain monitors flagged big losses among sizable holders. PeckShieldAlert reported individual ETH liquidations in the range of almost $3 million to $6.50 million.
This Anti-CZ Whale just got liquidated in the market crash!
Lookonchain tracked a high-profile account, Machi, whose total paper losses topped $20 million and whose balance was reported at just $15,530 after the hits. Another large account, labeled the “Anti-CZ Whale,” also saw profits plunge on Hyperliquid.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView