Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek has urged regulators to investigate trading practices at cryptocurrency exchanges following a record $20 billion in liquidations that swept through digital asset markets. In a post on X, Marszalek called for a thorough review of fairness, questioning whether platforms froze trading, mispriced assets, or failed anti-manipulation controls during the collapse.
Data from CoinGlass revealed Hyperliquid led with $10.31 billion in liquidated positions, followed by Bybit at $4.65 billion and Binance at $2.41 billion. Other exchanges like OKX, HTX, and Gate.io recorded smaller totals. Analyst Quinten François noted this event was over ten times larger than the COVID-19 crash or FTX collapse, highlighting its unprecedented scale.
Binance acknowledged a price depeg involving Ethena's USDe stablecoin, BNSOL, and WBETH, which caused forced liquidations. Co-founder Yi He apologized and promised compensation for verified platform errors, but excluded losses from market movements. Users reported technical issues, such as incorrect position closures, exacerbating losses.
The sell-off was triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of 100% tariffs on Chinese imports, responding to China's export restrictions on rare earth minerals. Bitcoin dropped nearly 15% before a partial recovery. Marszalek's call reflects growing tension among exchanges as volatility exposes infrastructure vulnerabilities, with regulators in the U.S., Europe, and Asia intensifying oversight.