Shorts Were 64% of $131.7M Liquidated: How a Squeeze Works
Short answer: In the 24 hours to 00:07 UTC on October 20, 2026, $131.7 million of crypto positions were liquidated and 64% were shorts. A liquidated short is bought back, which can push price up and liquidate the next one. At 10x, a short opened at $80,000 is liquidated near $88,000 before maintenance margin.
Shorts, not longs, took most of the damage in the latest 24-hour liquidation tally.
Below: the figures, why a squeeze feeds itself, and a table to find your own liquidation price before the market does.
Educational content, not investment advice. Leveraged futures can lose your entire margin. Worked examples are simplified and hypothetical.
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- How big was the short liquidation wave this week?
- Why does a liquidated short push the price higher?
- Where does a short get liquidated at 5x, 10x or 20x?
- How should you size a short so one spike does not end it?
- Mistakes That Turn a Small Move Into a Wipeout
How big was the short liquidation wave this week?
Crypto traders had $131.7 million of positions force-closed across 32,414 orders in the 24 hours ending 00:07 UTC on October 20, 2026, and shorts made up $84.6 million, or 64%, of that total, according to TokenPost.
| Asset | Total liquidated | Shorts | Longs |
|---|---|---|---|
| ETH | $45.8M | $32.7M | $13.2M |
| BTC | $35.8M | $23.8M | $12.0M |
| ZEC | $7.8M | – | – |
| SOL | $5.2M | – | – |
| All assets | $131.7M | $84.6M | $47.1M |
By venue, the same report puts Binance at $80.6 million, OKX at $41.4 million and Bybit at $9.7 million. The largest single hit was an $11.8 million ETH short on Binance, at 01:21 UTC on October 19.
When I checked the split, I found that shorts exceeded longs for all six symbols the article lists. That is the signature of price moving up through crowded bearish bets.
Why does a liquidated short push the price higher?
A liquidated short position is closed by buying the contract back, so each forced close adds buy orders to the market, which can lift the price and trigger the next short’s liquidation.
That chain is what traders call a squeeze. One account’s margin runs out, its position is bought back, and the buying nudges the price toward the next stack of stop levels.
It is not magic and it is not always dramatic. In a thin weekend book it just takes fewer dollars to start.
Where does a short get liquidated at 5x, 10x or 20x?
A short opened at $80,000 with 10x leverage and no extra margin is liquidated near $88,000 under the simple formula entry price times (1 + 1 divided by leverage), before maintenance margin and fees pull the real trigger a little lower.
| Leverage | Liquidation price (entry $80,000) | Distance from entry |
|---|---|---|
| 5x | about $96,000 | +20% |
| 10x | about $88,000 | +10% |
| 20x | about $84,000 | +5% |
| 50x | about $81,600 | +2% |
These are my own calculations from a simplified isolated-margin model. Your exchange’s number will be closer to entry because of the maintenance margin rate and fees.
The Binance BTC perpetual short of $11.96 million that TokenPost reported liquidated at $83,276 on October 20 fits the pattern: under the simple formula, a 20x short entered near $79,300 would sit at about that level. I am not claiming that was its leverage, because the article does not say.
How should you size a short so one spike does not end it?
A short position survives a squeeze when its liquidation price sits beyond the highest price you consider plausible, so the practical rule is to choose leverage from the distance you need, not the other way around.
Start from a price you would hold through, say 12% above entry. Then pick a leverage that puts liquidation past it: 5x here, since 10x lands at 10%. Add margin if you want a wider gap without cutting size.
Also check whether your venue uses mark price or last price for liquidation. Mark price filters out single wicks. That difference has saved real accounts.
Mistakes That Turn a Small Move Into a Wipeout
Here’s the pattern that keeps repeating in liquidation reports. People copy the headline leverage of a trade they saw and ignore the entry price, which is the number that sets the liquidation level.
I noticed that none of the figures in this week’s coverage tells you the leverage behind each position. Do not infer it. Compute your own.
Tips
- Calculate liquidation price before you open the trade, not after.
- Add margin or cut size so liquidation sits beyond the price you would genuinely hold through.
- Check whether the venue liquidates on mark price or last price.
Warnings
- Simple formulas ignore maintenance margin and fees, so real liquidation is closer to entry.
- Liquidation tallies from aggregators can differ by data provider.
- This is not investment advice.
FAQ
What is a short squeeze in crypto futures?
A short squeeze is a rise in price that forces short sellers to buy back positions, and that buying lifts the price further and forces more shorts out.
How do I find my liquidation price on a short?
As a rough guide, multiply your entry price by one plus one divided by your leverage, then expect the exchange figure to be a bit lower because of maintenance margin and fees.
Which exchange had the most liquidations?
In TokenPost’s tally for the 24 hours to 00:07 UTC on October 20, 2026, Binance led with $80.6 million, ahead of OKX at $41.4 million and Bybit at $9.7 million.
Sources
- TokenPost: Crypto liquidations reach $131.7 million as shorts take 64% (October 20, 2026)
- TokenPost: Binance liquidates $11.96 million Bitcoin short at $83,276 (October 20, 2026)
- CFTC: derivatives regulator
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Fact-checked against TokenPost liquidation reports dated October 20, 2026. Worked examples are simplified. Not investment advice.
