Bitcoin, Ethereum whipsaw, sparks heavy liquidations amid accusations of market manipulation

The crypto market whipsawed on Wednesday as top cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), quickly reversed gains from the early American session.

Within two hours, Bitcoin raced from $86,000 to above $90,000, but it faced a sharp pullback toward $85,000 almost immediately. ETH posted a similar move, rising from $2,900 to $3,100 before falling to $2,800 within a few hours.

The sharp, volatile move triggered heavy liquidations, wiping out over $400 million in leveraged positions from the global crypto futures market, according to Coinglass data. The largest liquidation order is a HYPE/USD position worth about $11.08 million on the decentralized perpetual exchange Hyperliquid.

Crypto liquidations during sharp price movements are often understated due to API delays/limitations across exchanges and a significant amount of trading activity that occurs off exchanges.

Ethereum led the liquidations, with over $150 million — largely long positions — wiped off the market. Bitcoin followed with $140 million in liquidations, led by $78 million in short liquidations.

Notably, Hyperliquid (HYPE) faced its largest liquidation of the month, totaling $33 million.

This isn't the first time the crypto market has seen such a sharp price movement in December. Over the past two weeks, the market has whipsawed on more than four occasions.

Some market participants have suggested manipulation, while others say the move is triggered by algorithms cleaning up thin market liquidity.

Persistent crypto ETF outflows have affected market stability

These movements come amid strong distribution across crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) this week. Over the past two days, Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs have seen net outflows of more than $1 billion, according to SoSoValue data.

"We are seeing weak market structure beneath price and relatively light ETF inflows, which reduces the market's ability to stabilize quickly when momentum flips," said Mike Marshall, head of research at Amberdata.

He noted that concerns about interest rates and rising cautious risk sentiment compound the market weakness.

"In this environment, the market tends to probe until it finds a level where buyers have conviction. Based on our ETF cost-basis analysis, the first meaningful floor is near $80K, and if we see sustained outflows or tighter financial conditions, $60K becomes the next major reference," added Marshall.

Bitcoin and Ethereum are trading near $86,000 and $2,800, down 2% and 4%, respectively, over the past 24 hours at the time of publication on Wednesday.