More than $163 million in long crypto positions were wiped out over the past 24 hours, adding to what has become a recurring theme in 2026: leveraged traders betting on higher prices and getting punished for it.

A pattern that keeps repeating

On May 8, $253 million in long positions were liquidated within a single 24-hour window. Before that, on April 13, the damage was even more widespread: $406 million in total futures contract liquidations hit global crypto markets in one day, with $184 million coming from long positions alone. Bitcoin and Ethereum bore the brunt of both episodes.

The April carnage actually started a day earlier. On April 12, more than $100 million in long positions were liquidated in just four…