Quick Answer: Long liquidation share measures the value of forced long closures divided by the value of all forced closures during a stated window. A long/short ratio measures a form of trader positioning or activity, depending on the provider's definition. The two use different denominators. An 88% long-liquidation share does not imply that 88% of traders, accounts, or open positions were long.
What does the liquidation percentage divide by?
For a single provider, instrument set and time window, the calculation is:
Long liquidation share = long liquidations in USD ÷ (long liquidations in USD + short liquidations in USD)
In the user-supplied CoinGlass dashboard screenshot, the rolling 24-hour panel displayed about $1.10 billion in long liquidations and $141.74 million in short liquidations, rounded to an 88.6% long share. These figures describe the value of positions forcibly closed, not the number of people holding positions. CoinGlass's data definition separates aggregated long and short liquidation amounts in USD.
The screenshot's aggregate also included stock-linked tickers. Its percentage should therefore be described as the share of that dashboard's tracked liquidations, rather than a crypto-only market statistic. The capture time is not printed on the image; the screenshot was received at about 03:32 UTC on November 6 and should not be presented as a current quote.
What can “long/short ratio” mean?
Read the label and provider method first. An account ratio may compare accounts with net long exposure against accounts with net short exposure. A position ratio may compare position sizes or notional value. A taker buy/sell ratio concerns executed order flow. These are not interchangeable, and none is a liquidation share.
Imagine 100 accounts, 50 net long and 50 net short. The account ratio can be 1:1. If a price decline forces $80 million of long positions to close and $20 million of short positions to close during the next hour, long liquidation share for that hour is 80%. Both figures can be accurate because one describes a positioning snapshot and the other describes realized forced closures over time.
The Phemex BTC/USDT futures page lets eligible readers inspect a live contract, order book and position controls. Before opening any position, check its mark price, margin mode, liquidation level and funding rules. The CoinGlass long/short figures are external market statistics, not Phemex account or position ratios.
Can a high long-liquidation share predict the next price move?
No reliable direction follows from the share alone. It says which side was more heavily forced out within the chosen window. It does not show the remaining open positions, unreported venues, future orders, or whether new buyers absorbed the closures. Compare the same asset, venue coverage, timestamp and window before making even a descriptive comparison.
A denominator test for four commonly confused metrics
| Metric | Numerator and denominator | What it can answer |
|---|---|---|
| Long liquidation share | Forced long-closure value ÷ all forced-closure value in a time window | Which side accounted for more reported liquidation value? |
| Long-account percentage | Accounts net long ÷ accounts classified long or short at a snapshot | What share of measured accounts were net long? |
| Long/short account ratio | Number of long accounts ÷ number of short accounts | How many long accounts were counted per short account? |
| Top-trader position ratio | Long position value ÷ short position value within the provider's top-trader cohort | How is that selected cohort positioned by value? |
The CoinGlass global account-ratio definition distinguishes a long-account percentage from a long/short account ratio. Its top-position-ratio documentation uses a selected cohort of top trader positions. Neither is the denominator of the liquidation chart. A dashboard may label all of these with “long/short,” so read the field definition and unit rather than relying on the label alone.
Why can a 50/50 account split coexist with 88.6% long liquidations?
Accounts need not hold equal-sized positions or use equal leverage. In the earlier 100-account example, 50 accounts may be net long and 50 net short. If a sharp price drop reaches the long accounts' maintenance-margin thresholds, a much larger dollar value of longs than shorts can be forcibly closed during the next hour. The account split remains a separate snapshot, and it may change after those closures.
There is also a market-structure point: every executed futures contract has a long side and a short side. A claim that “88.6% of the entire futures market was long” cannot follow from liquidation share, because counterparties exist on both sides of open contracts. A long/short account imbalance is possible because one account can hold more notional exposure than another; it does not mean the market lacks short counterparties.
What should you compare before drawing a conclusion?
Match the asset and trading pair first. An all-assets liquidation percentage is not directly comparable with a BTCUSDT account ratio. Then match the exchanges, the timestamp and the window: a rolling 24-hour forced-closure value should not be presented as though it were a snapshot of current positioning. Finally, note whether the ratio counts accounts or position value and whether it covers everyone or a top-trader cohort.
If those fields do not match, report the measures separately. If they do match, their difference may still be informative: it suggests that the distribution of leverage, position size and forced closures differed from the distribution of account direction. It does not reveal whether the next price move will reverse or continue.
The numbers can even move in opposite directions. Suppose the percentage of accounts net long rises because many small accounts open new longs after a selloff. At the same time, a small number of large, highly leveraged long positions might be liquidated, pushing the long-liquidation share sharply higher. Alternatively, new short accounts could appear while old short positions are being forced closed on a rebound. The key is to name the population and time span of each measure. Without those labels, “longs dominate” is too vague to be useful.
FAQ
Does 88.6% long liquidations mean 88.6% of traders lost money?
No. It is a share of reported liquidation value, not a share of traders. It also excludes positions closed voluntarily and may omit venues outside the data provider's coverage.
Can the account long/short ratio rise while longs are being liquidated?
Yes. New accounts can open longs, shorts can close, and the account ratio may be measured at a different time from the liquidation window.
