Ether Takes $286M of $483M in Crypto Futures Liquidations

Ether contracts took about $286 million of the $483 million in bitcoin and ether futures positions closed over the 24 hours to Thursday, with bitcoin's $197 million behind it, CoinGlass data checked during Asian morning hours showed. The closures came as a hotter September US inflation print reset expectations for the Federal Reserve's next move and dragged crypto, Asian equities and crypto-linked stocks lower together.

Ether fell about 6.4% to $2,356, roughly twice bitcoin's 3.2% decline to around $81,000. XRP and Solana's SOL lost around 5% each, and dogecoin dropped roughly 6%.

Ether Carried the Largest Share of Forced Closures

Ether's $286 million was the bigger of the two single-asset totals, and it landed on the smaller book. Outstanding ether futures contracts totalled about $30 billion, against $52 billion for bitcoin, so the forced selling hit a market with thinner liquidity than bitcoin's.

Solana futures recorded about $31 million in liquidations as SOL fell roughly 5.5%. Zcash contracts added nearly $19 million, with ZEC down about 13%.

The day before set the pattern. Nearly 88,886 traders had positions forcibly closed on Wednesday, and long positions accounted for about 82% of them, with bitcoin longs at 80.9% of its $69.95 million and ether bullish positions at 82.6% of $64.33 million. Binance handled about 49% of exchange liquidations, the sort of one-sided positioning that has not rebuilt after the 2025 unwind.

Totals for adjacent windows vary by desk and by window, and the figures ran from about $220 million to more than $800 million depending on which venues and hours each tally covered. The bitcoin and ether futures total for the 24 hours to Thursday is $483 million.

Hot CPI Moved the Rate Odds, Then Partly Back

Consumer prices rose 3.7% in the 12 months through September, up from 3.4% in August and above the 3.6% economists expected. Prices rose 0.6% on the month, with gasoline up 9.1% and accounting for more than half the headline increase. Core inflation, which strips out food and energy, accelerated to 2.6% from 2.4%, the 67th month in a row above the Fed's 2% target.

Rate odds moved first and settled lower. On Polymarket, the probability of an October hike spiked to nearly 50% after the release before easing to about 30%. CME's FedWatch tool traced a similar arc, from roughly 22% before the report to almost 47%, then back to 26%. Kalshi's market priced a 25-basis-point October hike at 55%, up from 21%.

The Fed raised its benchmark rate by 25 basis points in September to a target range of 3.75% to 4%, its first increase in more than three years. The next decision lands on October 27 and 28.

Bitcoin Held $81,500 as ETF Flows Flipped

US spot bitcoin ETFs recorded $150.5 million in outflows on October 14, reversing the previous day's $175.7 million inflow. That Tuesday session was led by FBTC at $103.1 million and IBIT at $65.9 million.

Bitcoin tapped an intraday low of $81,500 on Wednesday, roughly 35% below its October 2025 record just above $126,000, which leaves the $81,000 to $82,000 band as the short-term battleground. Mudrex said on-chain data showed bitcoin holding support near $81,500, the average cost basis for US ETF investors.

Bitget analyst Lewis Huang put bitcoin's immediate support at $81,300 and said a sustained decline below it could expose the asset to further losses. That is the level that matters: hold above it and $81,500 stays as the floor, close below it and the cost basis comes into question.

At 9:28 p.m. EDT on October 14, bitcoin traded $81,549.33, down 1.90% over 24 hours, ether $2,412.39, down 3.30%, XRP $1.32, down 2.90%, Solana $104.14, down 2.40%, and dogecoin $0.08143, down 3.30%. The global crypto market cap stood at $2.84 trillion, down 2.20% in 24 hours, with Strategy 5.87% lower and Bitmine Immersion down 5.28%. South Korea's KOSPI fell 8% and tripped circuit breakers.

Later quotes had bitcoin back near $83,700, with the global market cap edging down 0.1% to $2.8 trillion.

The next scheduled test is the Fed on October 27 and 28. Until then, $81,300 on a closing basis is the level that says whether bitcoin's hold near $81,500 survives.