The first trading day of 2026 saw significant volatility across the cryptocurrency market, characterized by a major institutional purchase, severe liquidations, and a hack-induced crash of a meme coin. Total liquidations over the past 24 hours reached $230.78 million, with long liquidations accounting for $151.90 million versus $78.88 million in shorts.
XRP kicked off the year with a dramatic 2,198% liquidation imbalance. According to CoinGlass data, XRP saw $7.05 million in total liquidations, with $6.75 million coming from long positions and only $307,850 from shorts. This one-sided wipeout coincided with a price dip to the $1.82 area before a rebound toward $1.85, suggesting the market cleared leveraged long exposure during the drop.
In a separate major development, Tether disclosed a significant Bitcoin acquisition. The stablecoin issuer purchased 8,888.888888 BTC in Q4 2025, valued at approximately $780 million. This brings Tether's total Bitcoin holdings to 96,370 BTC, worth around $8.5 billion. CEO Paolo Ardoino announced the purchase, which was executed at an average price of about $87,750 per BTC, aligning with late-December market prices.
Meanwhile, the meme coin BROCCOLI714 on Binance experienced a catastrophic 88% crash following a hacker-linked incident. The token, which had surged above $0.15, plummeted to around $0.019. The sell-off is tied to an attacker gaining access to market-maker accounts on Binance and exploiting the token's thin order book through coordinated trades. The event resulted in $6.46 million in liquidations for BROCCOLI714.
The broader crypto market showed cautious momentum, with total market capitalization dipping 0.71% to $2.96 trillion. Bitcoin traded at $87,557.43, down 0.91%, while Ethereum saw a slight 0.09% increase to $2,977.91. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index stood at 31, indicating "Fear" among market participants.
