Global markets sank as Russia launched a “special military operation” in Ukraine, precipitating a steep decline in cryptocurrency market.

In the early Asian hours, cryptocurrency market saw over $242 million in liquidations as markets reacted to Russian troops moving deeper into Ukraine in what Russian President Vladimir Putin described as a “special military operation.”

• Bitcoin-tracked futures saw the most liquidations – $72 million – followed by ether futures, which saw $70 million in liquidations. Altcoin-tracked lots saw significantly fewer liquidations than bitcoin and ether, with losses totaling $6.46 million on Solana’s SOL futures, $5.18 million on XRP futures, and $6.81 million on Dogecoin’s DOGE futures.

• Liquidations occur in the cryptocurrency market when a trader does not have sufficient funds to cover a margin call – or a request for additional collateral from the exchange to maintain the trading position funded. They are particularly prevalent in high-risk trading due to the high volatility of the underlying assets. Margin trading and futures trading both involve this.

Also, read – As tensions between Russia and Ukraine rise, Bitcoin falls below $37,000

• Thursday morning’s transactions contributed to a total of over $411 million in liquidations in the preceding 24 hours. Approximately 114,700 traders were liquidated, with the most significant single liquidation order occurring on OKX, involving a LINK trade worth more than $3.21 million.

• OKX had the most liquidations, with $73 million, followed by Binance with $48 million and Bybit with $24 million.

• Over 87 percent of all liquidated traders were ‘long’ the market or betting on higher prices.

• In the early Asian hours, the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies fell nearly 7.8 percent.

• Bitcoin fell nearly 8%, while stock futures in Asia and Europe fell an average of 1.5 percent.

#stoprussia #народна_війна

Бойова робота української артилерії 🔥
🇺🇦 Слава Україні та її захисникам! pic.twitter.com/IINvAsySXO

— Defence of Ukraine (@DefenceU) March 21, 2022

• According to reports, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin stated in an early morning broadcast that the “special military operation” in Ukraine was aimed at “demilitarising and denazifying Ukraine.”