Written by William Subergstaff writerReviewed by Charles Bennettstaff editor

Written by William Subergstaff writer

Reviewed by Charles Bennettstaff editor

Crypto short liquidations pass $3B mark as Bitcoin price nears $72K

MarketsPublishedAug 20, 2026

Bitcoin approached $72,000 in a second day of upside as crypto short liquidations passed $3.1 billion.

Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins are breaking records as short position liquidations pass $3 billion over two days.

Key points:

• Crypto short liquidations since Thursday are in excess of $3.1 billion, per CoinGlass data.
• Bitcoin continues its upside reaction to a US Treasury liquidity intervention, approaching $72,000.
• Bitcoin short-term holders take profit on previously underwater positions and move 43,300 BTC.

Two-day crypto short liquidations hit $3.1 billion

Data from CoinGlass shows ongoing crypto short liquidations at $3.1 billion for Aug. 19-20. Thursday’s tally was largest single-day wipeout of shorts ever recorded.

Crypto liquidations history (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass

On Wednesday, BTC/USD led the charge by reacting to a liquidity intervention by the US Treasury with a price spike to the highest levels seen since the start of June. At the time of writing, upside continues, with the pair reaching local highs of $71,992 on Bitstamp, per data from TradingView.

BTC/USD one-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

CoinGlass shows Bitcoin accounting for just over half of the total short liquidations at $1.65 billion.

The numbers do not represent the largest crypto liquidation event if long positions are included. It is dwarfed by the $20 billion long liquidation cascade that followed Bitcoin’s reversal from the most recent all-time high of $126,200 in October 2025.

In US dollar terms, data from CoinMarketCap puts Thursday’s total liquidations in seventh place historically, calculating the day’s long and short liquidations as $3.25 billion.

Bitcoin speculators take profit as cost basis returns

Bitcoin investors, meanwhile, capitalized on positions that were previously held at an unrealized loss.

Related: HYPE jumps 20% as Trump signals legal US path for Hyperliquid

Short-term holders — wallets holding a UTXO for less than 155 days — sent a record 43,300 BTC in profit to exchanges in their largest profit-taking move of 2026, per onchain analytics platform CryptoQuant.

Bitcoin STH profit and loss to exchanges (screenshot). Source: CryptoQuant

As of Thursday, the spent output profit ratio (SOPR) metric for the short-term holder (STH) cohort stood at 1.01, its highest since April. This reflects that the majority of coins in UTXOs from STH wallets moved at a higher price than in their previous transaction.

Bitcoin STH-SOPR data. Source: CryptoQuant

Previously, Cointelegraph reported that the STH cohort’s aggregate cost basis, also known as the STH realized price, stood at $68,700. At the time, analysis warned that any price upside could be stifled by the urge of investors in this cohort to exit underwater positions.

This article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and is intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice or recommendations. All investments and trades carry risk; readers are encouraged to conduct independent research.

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