Markets · Markets
CoinMarketCap counts nearly $600 million in bets forced closed in an hour
CoinMarketCap counted $591.8 million in borrowed-money bets forced closed in the hour to 5:19 p.m. ET Thursday, nearly all of them bets on higher prices. No cause has been established.
Nearly $600 million in borrowed-money bets on derivatives markets tracked by CoinMarketCap was forced closed in a single hour on Thursday evening, a sharp reminder that traders who borrow to bet on rising prices can lose their whole stake in minutes when the market slips only a few percent. CoinMarketCap's published figures show $591.8 million in forced closures in the hour to 5:19 p.m. ET, and $559.3 million of that was bets on higher prices [1].
The mechanism
A leveraged bet is a trade made partly with borrowed money. A trader puts up a slice of the position's value as collateral, called margin, and the exchange lends the rest. That turns a small move in price into a large gain or loss on the trader's own cash. A "long" is a bet that prices will rise; a "short" is a bet that they will fall.
When the price moves against a long far enough that the margin no longer covers the possible loss, the exchange does not wait for the trader. It closes the position on its own and sells to protect the loan. That is the forced selling in these numbers.
The selling can feed on itself. Each forced sale adds supply to a falling market, which pushes the price a little lower, which pushes the next trader's position past its limit, which triggers another sale. That chain is why these closures tend to arrive in clusters, and why an hour can do far more damage than the price chart alone suggests.
The evidence
All closure figures here come from a single source, CoinMarketCap, which says its data cover perpetual and futures contracts [1]. No second provider was available to check them. CoinMarketCap's published totals include a small share of non-crypto contracts, such as those tied to stocks.
In the hour to 5:19 p.m. ET, $591.8 million of positions was liquidated, meaning exchanges closed them because the traders' collateral no longer covered their losses: $559.3 million in longs and $32.5 million in shorts [1]. Over four hours the total was $704.5 million [1]. Over the full 24 hours to the same time it was $980.3 million, with $825.5 million in longs and $154.8 million in shorts [1]. About three-fifths of the day's closures, in other words, landed in one hour, and in that hour almost all the losers were betting on higher prices.
By Le Coin's calculation from CoinMarketCap data, crypto accounted for at most $568.4 million of the hour and $875.0 million of the day. That estimate is CoinMarketCap's all-asset total minus the 66 non-crypto entries in its top-250 list, so it is a ceiling rather than an exact count.
The three largest coins carried most of it. In the hour to 5:20 p.m. ET, bitcoin positions accounted for $210.9 million, of which $196.2 million was longs [1]. Ether positions accounted for $143.3 million, with $133.2 million in longs, and solana for $53.6 million, with $52.8 million in longs [1]. Together the three made up $407.8 million of the hour.
Over 24 hours, bitcoin closures reached $304.5 million ($256.1 million longs, $48.4 million shorts), ether $220.8 million ($180.5 million longs, $40.4 million shorts) and solana $69.3 million ($65.3 million longs, $4.0 million shorts) [1].
The price moves behind those numbers were modest by crypto standards. In CoinGecko's five-minute data, bitcoin went from $80,769.04 at 4:00 p.m. ET to a low of $78,763.49 at 5:00 p.m. ET, a drop of 2.48%, and stood at $79,135.75 at 5:15 p.m. ET [2]. Ether went from $2,334.55 to a low of $2,251.48 at 5:05 p.m. ET, down 3.56%, and was at $2,267.58 at 5:15 p.m. ET [2]. Solana went from $99.77 to a low of $95.64 at 5:05 p.m. ET, down 4.14%, and was at $96.85 at 5:15 p.m. ET [2]. For a trader who borrowed heavily, a slide of 2% to 4% is enough.
| CoinMarketCap liquidations, US$ millions | 1 hour | 24 hours |
|---|---|---|
| All assets, published total (to 5:19 p.m. ET) | 591.8 | 980.3 |
| All assets, longs (bets on higher prices) | 559.3 | 825.5 |
| All assets, shorts (bets on lower prices) | 32.5 | 154.8 |
| Le Coin estimate: crypto only, at most (ceiling) | 568.4 | 875.0 |
| Bitcoin (to 5:20 p.m. ET) | 210.9 | 304.5 |
| Ether (to 5:20 p.m. ET) | 143.3 | 220.8 |
| Solana (to 5:20 p.m. ET) | 53.6 | 69.3 |
Figure 1. Source: CoinMarketCap liquidations data, all assets to 5:19 p.m. ET, per-coin to 5:20 p.m. ET, Oct. 29, 2026 [1]. The crypto-only row is Le Coin's calculation from CoinMarketCap data, a ceiling.
The objection
Le Coin found no primary trigger for the drop, and this piece does not offer one. The counts also rest on one provider, and the crypto-only figure is Le Coin's estimate, not one CoinMarketCap publishes.
The tell
In Le Coin's view, the tell is the lopsidedness. When $559.3 million of a $591.8 million hour is bets on higher prices, the market was crowded on one side, and a small dip was enough to start the forced selling. Whether that crowd rebuilds is the thing to watch, not any single price level.
Stop
A slide of 2% to 4%, no confirmed cause, and nearly $600 million in borrowed bets forced closed in an hour, according to CoinMarketCap [1].
Sources
- CoinMarketCap derivatives liquidations, aggregate and by coin, https://coinmarketcap.com/api/ ; data via CoinMarketCap API, retrieved 5:19 p.m. ET (per-coin 5:20 p.m. ET), Oct. 29, 2026. All assets: 1h $591.8M (longs $559.3M, shorts $32.5M); 4h $704.5M; 24h $980.3M (longs $825.5M, shorts $154.8M). BTC $210.9M/$304.5M, ETH $143.3M/$220.8M, SOL $53.6M/$69.3M (1h/24h). Crypto-only ceiling ($568.4M 1h, $875.0M 24h) is Le Coin's calculation.
- CoinGecko, five-minute price data for bitcoin, ether and solana, Powered by CoinGecko API, https://www.coingecko.com/en/api ; accessed Oct. 29, 2026, about 5:21 p.m. ET.
Holding the Corner.
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