Ethereum Takes Center Stage as Crypto Market Suffers $413M Liquidation Imbalance

The latest US inflation report sparked a sudden short squeeze in the digital asset market. In June, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) unexpectedly fell by 0.4%, its steepest monthly decline since April 2020. The annual inflation rate slowed to 3.5%, while core inflation dropped to 2.6%. This triggered an immediate collapse of the probability of a Federal Reserve rate hike to just 8%.

The unexpected turn of events sent short traders into chaos, with liquidations surging to $134.90 million in the first hour alone. Long traders lost only $7.06 million during this time, resulting in an abnormal imbalance of 1,810%. Short sellers were forcibly closed out 19.1 times more than buyers.

The unusual skew toward Ethereum became apparent as it absorbed the largest blow. In just one hour, $ETH short sellers lost $56.71 million, while short liquidations in $BTC futures were significantly lower at $41.14 million.