Record day #2
The Dec 4, 2021 deleveraging day
Record day #2 of 2,244 - open interest removed at prior-day prices - data to 2021-12-04
On Dec 4, 2021, $1.13B of Bitcoin perpetual open interest on Binance was closed out in a single day, the #2 largest deleveraging day of the 2,244 on record since 2020-09-02. Across all 135 covered markets the total was $2.95B, and 91.9% of them shrank by more than 10% while BTC moved -8.35% on the day.
Markets hit hardest
Open interest removed on the day, valued at the previous close; links go to each market's deleveraging history.
| Market | OI removed | Positions change | Price move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin | $1.13B | -34.50% | -8.35% |
| Ethereum | $198M | -13.96% | -2.32% |
| XRP | $98M | -38.67% | -8.28% |
| Cardano | $86M | -34.63% | -8.84% |
| 1000SHIB | $61M | -43.70% | -9.93% |
| Filecoin | $58M | -49.66% | -17.59% |
| Dogecoin | $57M | -29.34% | -10.85% |
| Polkadot | $49M | -18.76% | -12.82% |
| MANA | $47M | -39.22% | +5.57% |
| Solana | $47M | -18.40% | -5.19% |
| AXS | $44M | -28.87% | -7.56% |
| GALA | $42M | -38.67% | +10.22% |
| BNB | $41M | -16.12% | -4.55% |
| Litecoin | $39M | -29.88% | -13.40% |
| LUNA | $39M | -20.11% | +18.31% |
Neighbours on the all-time list
| # | Date | BTC OI removed |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2025-10-10 | $2.92B |
| 3 | 2021-09-07 | $959M |
| 4 | 2024-04-13 | $856M |
Questions this record answers
How much open interest was wiped out on Dec 4, 2021?
$1.13B on the Bitcoin contract and $2.95B across all 135 covered Binance perpetual markets, valued at the previous day's close.
Where does Dec 4, 2021 rank among crypto liquidation days?
#2 of 2,244 days on record since 2020-09-02, ranked by Bitcoin open interest removed.
How broad was the deleveraging?
91.9% of the 135 covered markets saw their open positions fall by more than 10%; BTC's own open interest changed -34.50% and its price -8.35%.
Could you have sat through this day? Replay it candle by candle, without hindsight, in the K-line trainer.