Bitcoin Flash Crash Triggers $550M in Sunday Liquidations as Ether Rotation Builds

Bitcoin (BTC) dropped under $111,000 in a sudden weekend flash crash after a whale offloaded 24,000 BTC, or more than $300 million at current prices, into thin liquidity.

The whale sent the full balance to Hyperunite, with 12,000 BTC transferred Sunday alone, as CoinDesk reported earlier Monday. That move erased gains from Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech on Friday and sparked heavy forced selling across the market.

The sudden selloff fueled liquidations worth $238 million in bitcoin positions and $216 million in ether (ETH), part of more than $550 million cleared in the past day. BTC prices briefly touched below $111,000 before stabilizing near $112,800 as of Asian morning hours Monday.

Liquidations serve as a stark reminder of how fragile positioning can be in the crypto market. When traders pile in with leverage and the market moves against them, exchanges step in and automatically close those bets.

A flush of long liquidations can reset the market for a cleaner bounce, while a cluster of short wipes can fuel the next leg higher.

Despite the BTC flush, ether has held firmer, trading at $4,707 — up 9% in the past week. Some analysts say whales and institutions are rotating exposure from bitcoin to ether, betting the pending Fed rate cut could lift Ethereum harder given its smaller market cap.

“Ethereum’s momentum and relatively small market cap compared to Bitcoin would give it more upside in the scenario that the pending Fed rate cut unleashes more money into the money supply,” Jeff Mei, COO at BTSE. “In the event that this happens, both Ethereum and other altcoins could see a major rally.”

SignalPlus’s Augustine Fan agreed, pointing to a structural shift in demand: “ETH treasuries have seen a marked rise in public market cap relative to BTC over the past month, with the BTC/ETH ratio rebounding back to technically interesting levels on the latest rally.”

Analysts say the rally isn’t just a macro trade. Institutional buying and treasury allocations have added a tailwind, feeding speculation that Ethereum could become Wall Street’s preferred blockchain.

“Ether’s new all-time high is a clear sign of investor demand beyond just bitcoin,” said Samir Kerbage, chief investment officer at Hashdex, said in an email to CoinDesk over the weekend, as reported.

That $10,000 target, once deemed overly optimistic, is increasingly voiced as Ethereum cements itself as the backbone for stablecoins, tokenization, and smart contracts especially across traditional incumbents. The year-to-date gain for ETH now stands at 45%.

Read more: Bitcoin Reverses Powell Spike With a Flash Crash as Options Market Signals Jitters Ahead