Crypto Shorts Lose $1.23 Billion in 1 Hour: 3 Bitcoin Whales Wiped Out

Crypto bears just had one of their worst hours of 2026. Short positions worth $1.23 billion were liquidated in 60 minutes as Bitcoin (BTC) climbed 2.5% to near $68,424.

Three whale wallets on Hyperliquid, a decentralized derivatives exchange, absorbed $194 million of the damage. The forced buying added fuel to a rally that began in the bond market.

Inside the $1.23 Billion Crypto Short Liquidations

Total liquidations reached $1.31 billion in the hour, and shorts made up nearly all of it, per data from CoinGlass.

Bitcoin positions accounted for roughly $770 million of the wipeout, with Ethereum (ETH) adding another $430 million. ETH itself gained 3.9% and traded back above $2,000, near $2,084.

The 24-hour toll ran to $1.57 billion across 114,038 traders, with shorts making up $1.41 billion. The largest single order, an ETH position on Bitget, was worth $32.18 million.

The biggest casualty on Hyperliquid was wallet 0x8c96, which lost its entire 1,800 BTC short worth about $117 million, per Hypurrscan records.

Two more followed it out. Wallet 0x431f was wiped out with 677 BTC liquidated, roughly $44 million, per its history. A third account, 0x004e, lost 500 BTC worth about $33 million, per its transactions.

In just the past hour, $1.13B in shorts were liquidated!0x8c96 had his entire 1,800 $BTC($117M) short liquidated today.0x431f was completely wiped out, with 677 $BTC ($44M) liquidated.0x004e was completely wiped out, with 500 $BTC ($33M) liquidated.https://t.co/H2SwAuo8Iz… pic.twitter.com/0cflJCYEet

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) August 19, 2026

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The mechanics feed on themselves. A liquidated short forces the exchange to buy the asset back at market, and that buying lifts the price into the next cluster of liquidations. The loop explains how BTC covered days of range within a single hour.

Will FOMC Minutes Extend the Squeeze?

The spark came from Washington. The BTC price today stood near $68,424 after a doubling of long-end debt buybacks pulled Treasury yields down from a 19-year high.

The timing raises the stakes. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) releases minutes from its July meeting at 2 pm ET, hours after the wipeout. That meeting held rates at 3.50% to 3.75%, but three regional Fed presidents dissented in favor of a hike.

Traders will study how far the hawkish view spread. Markets price roughly 65% odds of a September hold, per a preview from Newsquawk.

The playbook echoes early July, when analysts asked what could carry BTC from $62,000 higher. Short liquidations did much of the work then as well.

Squeezes burn fast and fade fast. Dovish minutes would give the rally organic buyers to replace the forced ones. A hawkish surprise could send yields back toward 5.3% and hand momentum straight back to the bears who survived.