The crypto market has once again been shaken by external economic policies, with traders facing heavy losses amid increased volatility.

Over the past 24 hours, more than $486.55 million in liquidations have been recorded across various exchanges, affecting over 157,000 traders. The largest single liquidation, worth $11.97 million, occurred on Binance in the ETHUSDT pair.

This massive shakeout highlights how susceptible digital asset markets remain to broader economic shifts, particularly in response to geopolitical developments such as the latest tariffs announced by former U.S. President Donald Trump.

Short and Long Positions Face Brutal Liquidations

The Ethereum Blockchain provides access to Bitcoin liquidations data and there was a clear trend where the majority came from short positions across liquidating exchanges.

This certainly showcases that traders were expecting a downward movement. BitMEX however was an interesting outlier in that almost all of the liquidations came from long positions which means that most of the users of this system expected a regaining movement rather than a continuation of a down trend.

This contrast shows how divergent crypto trading can be, with different platforms exhibiting different sentiments.

The intensity of sentiment changes among traders is also reflected in the rate of liquidations. There was definitely a change in sentiment when $3.72 million was liquidated in an hour, with the number peaking at $24.18 million in four hours.

By the 12 hour mark, that number reached $339.92 million, and the total for the day was $486.55 million. The logic defying bursts suggests that traders did not expect the market downfall to be so harsh.

Trump Tariffs Trigger Market Sell-Off

The main reason for the sudden crypto market crash was the newly introduced tariffs under Trump’s administration. These new tariffs focus on specific imports to encourage internal production as well as increasing government income.

While the primary purpose of such policies are aimed at stabilizing trade, the aftermath goes well beyond established markets, extending into crypto.

As equities markets dipped in response to the tariff announcement, crypto markets followed suit, reflecting a broader loss of risk appetite among investors. Those holding large or highly leveraged positions faced margin calls as asset prices declined, triggering a wave of forced liquidations.