Crypto liquidations hit $12.5 billion in October 2026 as longs take the beating

October 2026 was a costly month for leveraged crypto traders, with total liquidations reaching $12.5 billion as Bitcoin traded in a $76,000 to $84,000 range. Forced closures heavily punished bullish bets: longs accounted for $9.213 billion of the wipeouts versus $3.29 billion lost by shorts, meaning optimism proved the more expensive side of the trade. The largest single-day event came on October 30, when nearly $1.67 billion was liquidated and 86% came from long positions, with spikes above $500 million occurring on several other days. Binance, Bybit, OKX and Hyperliquid were key venues, and Binance handled roughly half of total trading volume. The piece ties the turmoil to a reported Binance security incident around October 30, estimated at $6.3 billion, as BTC was pushed near $76,400.