Ether Liquidations Reach $184 Million as $44 Billion in Futures Stay Open

Ether (ETH) saw $184.41 million in leveraged positions liquidated over a 24-hour period, equal to about 0.42% of the $44.26 billion in ETH perpetual futures open interest.

Long positions accounted for 90.4% of liquidations, or about $166.7 million. Short positions made up about $17.7 million. A long position is structured to gain when the asset’s price rises.

Open interest measures the value of derivatives contracts that remain open and unsettled. Perpetual futures have no expiration date and let traders take leveraged positions. The $44.26 billion in open interest equaled about 15.5% of Ether’s $285.3 billion market capitalization and 4.5 times its $9.75 billion in 24-hour trading volume.

High open interest relative to trading activity can magnify price moves when forced closures add buying or selling pressure to regular trading.

Ether traded near $2,337 on Saturday, down about 2.5% over 24 hours. A separate 24-hour price snapshot as of 3:39 p.m. ET Oct. 24 showed a range of $2,286.76 to $2,402.36.

Public companies and other entities held about 8.12 million ETH, or 6.6% of circulating supply. Those holdings were worth roughly $19 billion at current prices.