Crypto Market Sees $259 Million Liquidation Imbalance Amid US Inflation Data

Yesterday's US inflation data release sparked an unexpected surge in cryptocurrency derivatives markets. The August core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index report showed that price pressures remain persistent, with more than half of the components in the PCE basket still rising faster than the target rate.

Despite this, Bitcoin and major altcoins triggered a powerful buying wave that overwhelmed sellers. Short sellers found themselves trapped as the market interpreted cooling inflation as a green light for risk assets, leading to a cascade of forced liquidations of leveraged positions.

According to analytics platform CoinGlass, 73,709 traders were steamrolled over 24 hours, resulting in $259.12 million in lost positions. The extreme imbalance was particularly pronounced when the data was released, with short liquidations surging to $82.61 million while longs lost a mere $3.09 million.

The main drivers of the rally were Bitcoin, Ether, and XRP, which absorbed most of the sellers' liquidity. Bitcoin reached $83,825.17 at its peak, with short sellers accounting for over $51.69 million in losses over 24 hours. The hardest hit came on the HTX exchange, where a single BTC-USDT position was forcibly liquidated for $6.91 million.