The sudden price correction has led to the largest crypto liquidation event of the year, wiping out over-leveraged positions.
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Crypto prices tumbled hard during Asian trading hours, wiping out nearly 4% of the market’s capitalization in a single session.
Bitcoin drove the downturn, falling by more than $4,000 in the past day to hover near $112,000 at press time, according to CryptoSlate’s data.
Meanwhile, the decline was not limited to BTC as Ethereum slid 7% to $4,163, while XRP lost over 6% to trade around $2.82.
Other large-cap tokens, including Solana, Dogecoin, and BNB, also registered more than 6% declines during the same window.
The broad downturn marked the first major correction after weeks of steady gains that had driven digital assets to record highs.
The speed of the drop caught some traders off guard, but several analysts had already highlighted potential risks.
Joao Wedson, founder of blockchain analytics platform Alphractal, said Bitcoin is showing clear signs of cycle exhaustion. He pointed to the SOPR Trend Signal, which tracks realized profitability on-chain, as evidence that investors are buying at historically high levels where profit margins are already shrinking.
Wedson explained that Bitcoin’s short-term holder realized price currently sits at $111,400, a level that institutions should have secured much earlier. He also noted that Bitcoin’s Sharpe Ratio, which is used to measure returns against risk, has weakened compared to 2024.
Considering this, he stated:
“Those who bought BTC at the end of 2022 are happy with +600% gains, but those accumulating in 2025 should reconsider their strategy.”
The sudden price correction has sparked the largest liquidation event of the year.
Data from Coinglass shows that $1.7 billion worth of leveraged positions were wiped out in the past 24 hours, with long traders taking the heaviest hit. Losses from bullish bets totaled $1.6 billion, while short positions lost $83 million.
Ethereum traders endured the most pain, with $498 million in liquidations, followed by Bitcoin at $284 million. XRP and Solana also saw positions worth $78 million and $95 million liquidated, respectively.
These figures underline the inherent volatility of crypto markets. When leverage builds up during bullish runs, a rapid correction can wipe out billions in unrealized gains.
So, this sharp reset highlights why traders, particularly institutional entrants, remain cautious about the emerging industry even as adoption grows.
At the time of press 9:40 am UTC on Sep. 22, 2025, Bitcoin is ranked #1 by market cap and the price is down 2.49% over the past 24 hours. Bitcoin has a market capitalization of $2.25 trillion with a 24-hour trading volume of $47.17 billion. Learn more about Bitcoin ›
At the time of press 9:40 am UTC on Sep. 22, 2025, the total crypto market is valued at at $3.89 trillion with a 24-hour volume of $181.49 billion. Bitcoin dominance is currently at 57.72%. Learn more about the crypto market ›
Oluwapelumi values Bitcoin’s potential. He imparts insights on a range of topics like DeFi, hacks, mining and culture, underlining transformative power.
Also known as “Akiba,” Liam Wright is the Editor-in-Chief at CryptoSlate and host of the SlateCast. He believes that decentralized technology has the potential to make widespread positive change.
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Bitcoin, a decentralized currency that defies the sway of central banks or administrators, transacts electronically, circumventing intermediaries via a peer-to-peer network.
Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain platform that enables the creation of smart contracts and decentralized applications (DApps).
Solana is a high-performance blockchain platform that utilizes a unique consensus algorithm called “Proof of History” to achieve fast transaction speeds and low fees.
BNB, or Binance Coin, is a cryptocurrency created by Binance.
Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency created in December 2013 as a joke by software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer.
The XRP Ledger is a decentralized cryptographic ledger powered by a network of peer-to-peer servers.
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