FTX records largest short liquidation event in its history

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX hit a new record of over $936.24 million in short liquidations. 

Today was the single largest liquidation event on FTX in its history and the runner up isn’t even close.

~$600m

Someone get carried out on a stretcher?
Seems excessive given the move. But then again there’s like 12 people who understand how their liq engine works. pic.twitter.com/DDs7RRM7qH

— Hsaka (@HsakaTrades) October 25, 2022

This development, as reported, is the single largest liquidation event ever recorded by the exchange since its emergence in 2019.  Notably, FTX edged past its contemporaries by a very wide margin. It is being trailed by Binance, which recorded $57.58 million, and OKX, with $46.72 million.

According to figures from the last 24 hours, the general crypto market recorded liquidations of about $1.1 billion on short trades, or stakes against price rises, reaching its highest since July 2021.

Just on BTC, short liquidations were $280 million on Oct. 25 and a further $300 million of BTC shorts were liquidated on Oct. 26.

No way dude!

Another, new, record day of liquidations on FTX.

300m in $BTC shorts rekt after yesterday’s 280m 🤯 pic.twitter.com/OpfDTD8YKy

— Byzantine General (@ByzGeneral) October 26, 2022

Notably, these liquidations reportedly contributed to a short squeeze, as numerous tokens saw a rise in prices within the last 24 hours. 

Ether (ETH), for instance, recorded a 13.95% spike in its price, leading the race among major cryptocurrencies that witnessed a rise in prices within the last 24 hours. Others that trailed Ether are Cardano (ADA) and Solana (SOL), with 9.35% and  9.47%, rising in their respective prices. Also, bitcoin (BTC), the largest crypto by market cap, saw a 7.02% price increase. 

What usually facilitates liquidations?

Liquidations manifest in situations whereby an exchange enforced the closedown of a trader’s leveraged position owing to partial or total loss of the trader’s initial margin. This situation is usually obtainable in moments whereby traders are unable to meet up with the margin requisites for a leveraged position.

Meanwhile,  long trades also recorded another $95.5 million in liquidations amid the prevailing price volatility. This development reportedly increased the overall market cap of the crypto market by 4%.

Notably,  the amount of outstanding unsettled derivative contracts increased by 6.6%, implying that traders opened additional positions expecting a further price spike.