While traders slept, Binance changed the rules. A sudden margin update on April 1, 2025 sent the Solana-based ACT token plummeting 50%, triggering a cascade of liquidations that rippled through the crypto market. No warning, no time to prepare. Just gone.
One trader saw $3.79 million in ACT positions vanish overnight. Not alone, either. DEXE dropped 23%, DF fell 16%. The carnage was swift and merciless. Critics pointed to Binance’s lack of notice—traders simply had no chance to adjust their positions before the bloodbath began.
Millions incinerated without warning. Positions evaporated. Just another day in Binance’s ruthless crypto casino.
Market makers like Wintermute got blamed for triggering the sell-offs. They denied it, of course. Just reacting to the market, they said. Sure.
This wasn’t even the biggest disaster this year. February 3rd saw a staggering $10 billion liquidation event. Ten. Billion. Dollars. And Binance? Still keeping their extensive liquidation data locked away, despite “commitments to transparency.” Funny how that works.
The human cost is real. Traders like Hanwe Chang watched entire account balances disappear overnight. Eight-figure positions held by top traders—gone in an instant. When liquidation hits, it’s brutal and final.
Binance’s “Smart Liquidation” protocol is supposed to minimize the damage. It uses Immediate or Cancel Orders to partially liquidate positions when possible. Unlike non-custodial wallets in traditional DeFi that give users full control of their assets, centralized exchanges retain ultimate power over traders’ funds. Sometimes it works. Often it doesn’t. When positions go bankrupt, losses get absorbed by Binance’s Futures Insurance Fund. Cold comfort for those already wiped out.
The system cancels all open orders in cross-margin mode during liquidations. It’s efficient, ruthless, and utterly devastating for traders caught in its path.
Pressure is mounting for Binance to come clean. This comes as Bybit has boldly pledged full access to its liquidation data following the February incident. Traders deserve to know how liquidations happen. Industry experts continue to express deep skepticism about Binance’s genuine commitment to transparency given their history of opacity. Regulators are circling. The crypto market remains the Wild West, where the rules can change while you sleep and millions can vanish before your morning coffee.
For many traders, it’s already too late. Their millions are gone overnight. The question remains: whose money will disappear next?
