The cryptocurrency market experienced its largest liquidation event in history over the weekend, with nearly US$20 billion (HK$156 billion) in positions forcibly closed across global exchanges following US President Donald Trump's announcement of planned 100 percent tariffs on Chinese goods.
The massive sell-off, which affected over 1.6 million traders worldwide according to data tracker Coinglass, saw Bitcoin tumble from its recent all-time high above US$126,000 to near US$100,000 on Saturday - a drop of over 20 percent from its peak. While the cryptocurrency has since recovered to around US$110,000, analysts warn that a break below the US$100,000 support level could signal the end of the three-year bull market.
Perpetual exchange Hyperliquid emerged as the hardest-hit platform, with over US$100 billion in liquidations despite its relatively small size compared to competitors. The exchange's automatic deleveraging mechanism was cited as exacerbating the market collapse, leaving more than 1,000 wallets completely wiped out and 6,300 others in negative territory.
Industry executives expressed concerns about further fallout. Edward Chin, chief executivre of crypto hedge fund Parataxis, warned that additional fund collapses or market maker casualties may emerge in coming weeks. The scale of damage may be even greater than reported, as Coinglass noted that exchanges like Binance report liquidations with significant delays.
