Crypto bears just had one of their worst hours of 2026.
Short positions worth $1.23 billion were liquidated in 60 minutes as Bitcoin (BTC) climbed 2.5% to near $68,424
Three whale wallets on Hyperliquid, a decentralized derivatives exchange, absorbed $194 million of the damage. The forced buying added fuel to a rally that began in the bond market. Inside the $1.23 Billion Crypto Short Liquidations Total liquidations reached $1.31 billion in the hour, and shorts made up nearly all of it, per data from CoinGlass.
Bitcoin positions accounted for roughly $770 million of the wipeout, with Ethereum (ETH) adding another $430 million. ETH itself gained 3.9% and traded back above $2,000, near $2,084. The 24-hour toll ran to $1.57 billion across 114,038 traders, with shorts making up $1.41 billion.