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XRP liquidations hit the market with an unusually severe imbalance earlier today. In just a single hour, long positions were wiped out at a rate 36,283% higher than shorts, according to data from CoinGlass. It appears that a large number of bullish traders were caught offguard by the sudden price change.
In one hour, XRP had $3.27 million in long liquidations but only $9,040 in short liquidations. Even though today's total liquidation volumes on XRP were not the greatest, it stood out due to the extreme difference between the numbers. Evidently, this imbalance was caused by a concentrated wave of selling pressure, most likely triggered by forced liquidations as the price dropped.
Looking at XRP’s price action leading into the event, an obvious trend emerges: a brief attempt to push higher, followed by a decline. Around the time the liquidations kicked in, the hourly chart captured a string of red candles, accelerating the drop. Patterns like this often coincide with stop-loss levels being hit, a situation that can trigger a cascade of automated sell-offs on leveraged markets.
XRP traders have faced a squeeze before, but the pace and imbalance here were far outside the norm. However, CoinGlass data suggests that this was a short but intense correction for overexposed long traders rather than a shift in the overall structure of the market.
On a larger scale, there were $671.5 million in total liquidations over the last 24 hours, 69% of which were longs. Both Ethereum and Bitcoin led in total volume, but it was XRP’s unusual hourly split that pointed to how quickly leverage can turn into risk with more volatile altcoins.
Vladislav Sopov
U.Today Editorial Team