More than $628 million in crypto positions were liquidated in a single hour late Thursday after an unexplained outflow of roughly $2 billion from Binance hot wallets triggered a sharp selloff. Data from Coinglass shows $627.7 million was wiped out in that window, with $606.6 million coming from long positions betting on higher prices and only $21.1 million from shorts.
The move followed a statement from Binance that it was investigating a potential security issue around the outflows and had not confirmed any loss. Founder Changpeng Zhao reportedly told observers the situation did "look like a hack." The first transfer out of the exchange's Binance 14 wallet landed at 20:24 UTC, and the steepest price candles printed within the following 15 minutes.
Bitcoin fell from near $80,800 at 20:00 UTC to roughly $78,300 by 20:35 UTC, a drop of about 3 percent in a single candle, before bouncing back above $79,100. Ethereum slid from about $2,335 to a low near $2,233, more than 4 percent lower, and recovered to around $2,263.
Across the hour, Bitcoin led the liquidation tally with $189.1 million, followed by Ethereum at $156.8 million and Solana at $46.8 million. By exchange, Binance accounted for $344.8 million, more than half the total, with Hyperliquid at $97 million and Bybit at $77.3 million. Tether moved quickly to freeze more than 1.56 billion USDT tied to the outflow, removing most of the stablecoins from circulation.