Cryptocurrencies Sink as $1.5 Billion in Bullish Bets Wiped Out

Group 1 - Cryptocurrency traders experienced over $1.5 billion in liquidations on Monday, leading to a significant selloff in the market, with Ether dropping as much as 9% to $4,075 and Bitcoin declining 3% to $111,998 [1][3] - The recent wave of liquidations is the largest since at least March 27, with more than 407,000 traders affected, causing the overall digital-asset market size to fall below $4 trillion [3] - The funding rate for Ether perpetual futures has turned negative, indicating that short sellers are dominating the market and paying longs to maintain their positions [4] Group 2 - Demand from publicly-listed vehicles that hoard tokens had previously driven Bitcoin and Ether to all-time highs in August, but this momentum is now fading as shares of digital-asset treasury firms have retreated [2] - Bitcoin has been trading within a range of $110,100 and $120,000 since early July, with subdued volatility, while Ether and Solana have seen significant rallies of 74% and 52% respectively during the same period [5] - Easing monetary policy in the US has contributed to rising gold and equities, but Bitcoin's response has been muted, with several top crypto tokens experiencing double-digit losses over the past five days [6]