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60-second explainer

What is Liquidation?

an exchange force-closing a leveraged position.

The number

Liquidation is an exchange force-closing a leveraged position.

What it means

when price moves against a leveraged bet, the exchange sells it out automatically, no second chances.

Why it matters

liquidations cascade: one flush triggers the next, and that's how you get $1B wiped in an hour.

From the desk

The desk watches this alongside the nine Pulse Score signals when reading a coin. See Methodology for how the score fuses its inputs.

Keep reading

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Coinbase Premium

how much more (or less) BTC trades for on Coinbase vs the rest of the world, in basis points

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Order Book Imbalance

whether the buy side or sell side of the exchange order book is heavier

Explainer generated Sep 24, 2026 from the desk glossary. Not financial advice.