Short positions worth $1.23 billion were liquidated in a single hour on August 21, 2026, as Bitcoin climbed 2.5% to near $68,424. Three large whale wallets on Hyperliquid absorbed $194 million in combined losses, with the biggest one (0x8c96) losing its entire 1,800 BTC short worth approximately $117 million. Total liquidations reached $1.31 billion in that hour, with Bitcoin positions accounting for roughly $770 million and Ethereum adding another $430 million, the latter gaining 3.9% to trade back above $2,000 at around $2,084. Over 24 hours, liquidations totaled $1.57 billion across 114,038 traders, shorts representing $1.41 billion of that amount. The move was fueled by a self-reinforcing mechanism: liquidations force exchanges to repurchase assets at market prices, pushing prices higher and triggering additional cascading liquidations.
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