Bitcoin traders on Binance have been losing more on liquidations for three consecutive months than at any time since 2021. The trend continues in November. These are direct losses for those trading with leverage, but at the same time a potential plus for investors without borrowed funds: in growth phases, mass deleveraging often coincided with the final phase of a price correction.
The Ethereum market was also hit. On four major exchanges on November 8 and 10, longs (bets on price increases) were liquidated by $377 million more than shorts (bets on price declines), and the ETH price dropped to almost $2,000. US inflation, which came in above forecast, added pressure on the entire crypto market.
Deleveraging on Binance: what the signal means
Open interest in BTC futures on Binance fell from $10.6 billion to $8.8 billion in less than a month, or by 17%. This metric is the total value of outstanding futures positions, including those opened with borrowed funds. The 180-day average meanwhile rose from $8.4 billion to $8.6 billion, and the current value has dropped below it.
This scenario points to a new deleveraging signal: traders are either closing positions themselves or losing them to liquidation. In growth phases, such a signal often appears closer to the end of a correction. A similar picture emerged in June, when BTC traded below $60,000, followed by a rebound above $87,000, more than 45%. In a bear market, such a process can stretch over several months.
The decline coincided with major liquidations — forced closure of positions when a trader lacks the margin to cover losses. The last three months have been record-breaking for Binance in terms of liquidation volume since 2021: over $1.4 billion in August, $1.1 billion in September, $1.3 billion in October. The November total has already exceeded $520 million, even though the first half of the month is not yet over.
The surge in liquidations is linked to low volatility: some traders took on more risk to profit from weak price fluctuations and proved vulnerable to a reversal. With low trading volumes, adding to positions out of impatience quickly becomes expensive. At the same time, fewer leveraged positions reduce the risk of cascading liquidations and increase the role of spot demand, that is, purchases of the coins themselves — this makes the bitcoin market more resilient.
Ethereum at $2,000: most longs liquidated on Binance
Deleveraging also affected Ethereum, and once again Binance traders lost the most. On this platform, as well as on Bybit, OKX and Gate, long positions were liquidated by $376.75 million more than short ones on November 8 and 10. This is one of the largest such waves in almost four months, and about 65% of the difference came from Binance.
The bulk of the imbalance formed on November 8, when longs were closed on the four exchanges by $252.6 million more than shorts. The excess on Binance reached $176 million, on Bybit — $46 million, on OKX — $17.9 million, on Gate — $12.7 million. Another $124.15 million was added on November 10: $69 million on Binance, $19.8 million on OKX, $18.25 million on Bybit and $17.1 million on Gate. Binance's total over the two sessions was $245 million, roughly 1.86 times more than the other three exchanges combined ($131.75 million).
These losses coincided with a broader decline in the ETH price from $2,450 in early November to $2,053 by November 12. The price is now only 2.6% above the psychological mark of $2,000. This refers to the net difference between closed longs and shorts, not the total liquidation volume.
What else pressured the crypto market in November
Liquidations on the crypto market reached $855.69 million on November 8, and 90.2% of them were longs. The same day saw the main wave of ETH liquidations, and the BTC price dropped to $73,708 — the lowest since August.
US inflation data released on November 10 came in worse than forecast: consumer prices rose 0.4% in October against expectations of 0.23%. Within five minutes, leveraged positions worth about $200 million were forcibly closed on the crypto market, and the same day saw the second surge of ETH long liquidations.
Cryptalist analysis: The record series of liquidations on Binance reflects not so much market weakness as its cleansing of excess leverage — a classic sign of a late-stage correction. The decline in open interest below the 180-day average while spot demand persists forms the basis for a more sustainable recovery. However, with macroeconomic pressure on risk assets dominating, a reversal may be stretched out over time, and investors should assess the sustainability of growth by the recovery of spot volumes rather than by short-term rebounds.