$108 Billion Flash Crash Wipes Out Crypto Market Value
A massive flash crash in the crypto market wiped out $108 billion in six minutes on August 22, 2026. This decline sent shockwaves throughout the industry, with Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and XRP bearing the brunt of the losses.
The total market value fell from $2.68 trillion to $2.55 trillion as selling pressure increased, resulting in over $1.71 billion in crypto positions being liquidated within 24 hours. According to CoinGlass, this number represents a significant portion of the 281,846 traders who were liquidated during this period.
The majority of these losses came from long positions, with around $574 million wiped out in just four hours as Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies plummeted sharply. The sharp decline also had an impact on crypto derivatives markets, with open interest across cryptocurrencies falling by $3.34 billion or 5.18% within a short period.
Bitcoin's rally from $63,600 to $79,500 earlier in the week triggered around $2.7 billion in short liquidations before reversing course and putting heavily leveraged long positions under pressure. The price of BTC dropped to around $76,500 within six minutes, resulting in approximately $257.77 million in liquidations.