Over $1.7 Billion Liquidated from the Crypto Market

Yesterday was a tough one for crypto traders, with over $1.7 billion in leveraged positions wiped out. Around $1.6 billion of that came from long positions as Bitcoin broke lower following a weekend of sideways price action. It marked the largest single day of liquidations in over six months.

It was another reminder of the risks of trading with leverage. Meanwhile, spot holders are treating this forced liquidation event as an opportunity to accumulate Bitcoin and altcoins at more favourable prices.

Bitcoin is now back below $113K after dropping more than 2% on the day. Altcoins and the major layer-1s saw deeper drawdowns. Ethereum and Solana both lost over 6%. BNB held up relatively well, falling less than 3%, largely thanks to strength in ASTER which continues to outperform. ASTER briefly turned red during the liquidation flush but quickly bounced, and is now up more than 20% from its intraday low.

This move highlights how a strong narrative can outperform the wider market even when everything else is heading lower. ASTER continues to lead and is showing clear relative strength.

Historically, these liquidation-driven selloffs during bull markets are short-lived. They tend to get bought up quickly, which has been the pattern throughout this cycle. With strong underlying momentum still in place, it is likely we see a return to pre-selloff levels sooner rather than later.

Stormrake Spotlight: Aster (ASTER) ($1.545)

We briefly mentioned ASTER in yesterday’s morning note. Today it enters the Stormrake Spotlight as one of the year’s best performers in an incredibly short time. It currently trades just above $1.54 after hitting over $2 on the weekend. Although it has pulled back slightly, price action remains extremely bullish and the recent liquidation event was absorbed quickly.

ASTER is a decentralised exchange built on Binance Smart Chain, offering perpetual trading, yield farming, and stablecoin minting. Think of it as a Hyperliquid alternative on BSC. Binance founder CZ has been highly vocal in his support for the project. That early backing played a major role in ASTER’s rapid rise, with investors following CZ’s lead.

Since launching on 17 September, ASTER has rallied over 1,600% and touched highs above $2. The explosive move was driven by a surge in users and a sharp increase in total value locked on-chain. Big names piled in too, from crypto influencers and whales to MrBeast, helping fuel the hype and push price even higher.

One concern from the community is token concentration. Around 96% of the supply is held across just four wallets, which many believe could belong to a single entity. That raises valid questions around centralisation and control. Even so, ASTER continues to dominate and is quickly emerging as a serious competitor to Hyperliquid. Since ASTER’s breakout, HYPE has struggled, down 20% from its all-time high on 18 September.

BTC/USD Key Levels and Price Action:

The weekend was a period of tight consolidation. The market was waiting for a breakout or breakdown. The liquidation wave confirmed the latter and pushed Bitcoin lower into support. BTC is now sitting right at the previous all-time high level around $112K. This zone is holding for now.

Bears have short-term control of momentum and structure, but in the context of a bull market, we expect this to be temporary. Buyers could return quickly, especially if support continues to hold.

BTC Total ETF Flows for 22 Sep: (data not available at the time of writing)

*All prices are denominated in USD unless stated otherwise*

Written by Alexandar Artis

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