These liquidations also caused panic across both traditional and digital markets. One Ethereum whale injected over $14.5 million into MakerDAO to avoid liquidation on a $300M ETH position, while another investor wasn’t as lucky, and lost more than 67,000 ETH—worth over $100M—on DeFi platform Sky. Meanwhile, a symbolic gesture drew attention in the Solana ecosystem after one user staked SOL until the year 5138.
Ethereum Whale Moves Quickly to Prevent Liquidation
An unidentified crypto whale injected millions of dollars into MakerDAO to avoid the liquidation of a massive $300 million Ethereum (ETH) due to the sharp market downturn. The investor is reportedly holding 220,000 ETH, and now faces the risk of liquidation if ETH drops to $1,119.3. To help raise the position’s liquidation threshold, the whale deposited an additional 10,000 ETH and 3.54 million DAI, which is worth more than $14.5 million, according to blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain.
This intense market volatility led to widespread liquidations across the crypto space. Data from CoinGlass indicates that more than 446,000 positions were wiped out over the past 24 hours, with total losses exceeding $1.42 billion. Long positions accounted for the vast majority, at $1.21 billion, while short positions lost $152 million. The single largest liquidation was a $7 million Bitcoin position on the OKX exchange.
24 hour liquidations (Source: CoinGlass)
The broader market crash was triggered by a major macroeconomic shock following US President Donald Trump's announcement of reciprocal import tariffs on April 2. The tariffs sparked panic across global markets, and contributed to a historic $5 trillion wipeout from the S&P 500 in just two days.
Despite the turmoil, some market analysts see a potential silver lining. Michaël van de Poppe, the founder of MN Consultancy, suggested that the clarity around the tariffs could be the end of a prolonged period of uncertainty, and could even potentially usher in a rebound for the crypto market. He argued that with the new rules of the economic game now in place, investors may begin rotating into undervalued digital assets.
Crypto intelligence platform Nansen also estimated a 70% chance that the crypto market could reach its bottom by June, depending on the evolution of tariff negotiations.
Whale Loses 67K ETH
Not all whales are lucky enough to prevent liquidations. An Ethereum investor was liquidated for more than $100 million after the price of ETH plummeted by around 14% on April 6. This was one of the largest single liquidations in recent memory.
The investor lost 67,570 ETH, which was worth approximately $106 million, on the DeFi lending platform Sky, according to data from DeFi Explore and Lookonchain. Sky rebranded from Maker in August, and it allows users to create collateralized debt positions by locking up ETH to borrow the stablecoin DAI. However, the protocol enforces a minimum overcollateralization ratio of 150%, and when this investor's ratio fell to 144% thanks to the ETH price drop, the position became eligible for automatic liquidation.
Sky’s protocol is designed to autonomously liquidate positions that fall below the required ratio by seizing and auctioning the ETH collateral to repay the borrowed DAI and associated fees. Any remaining ETH after the debt is settled is returned to the user, but in this case, the sudden and steep decline in ETH's value triggered a big loss.
Another whale was very close to a similar fate, having supplied 56,995 wrapped ETH—worth around $91 million—as collateral to borrow DAI. This put their position at risk of liquidation as well.
At press time, Ethereum was trading hands at close to $1,491 after its price dropped by more than 16% in the past 24 hours. ETH’s price was also down by 17% on its weekly time frame. This means that the altcoin returned to levels not seen since October of 2023.
ETH’s price action over the past 24 hours (Source: CoinMarketCap)
The market crash comes in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s announcement of new tariffs, which triggered a massive sell-off across traditional and digital markets. ETH is currently down more than 60% from its all-time high in 2021, and further declines could lead to even more collateralized positions being liquidated.
So far, the majority of recent liquidations involved ETH positions. This is likely due to the vulnerability of leveraged DeFi strategies during periods of extreme market volatility.
Crypto User Stakes SOL Until Year 5138
It is not only Ethereum whales making moves in the market. Another crypto user made a bold and symbolic bet on the long-term future of Solana by staking a small portion of the token for the next 3,000 years.
According to blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence, the anonymous user staked just $0.05 worth of SOL in 2023, which will remain locked until the year 5138. While the amount may be small, the gesture certainly captured attention across the crypto community. Many people saw it as an expression of extreme confidence in Solana’s long-term potential.
Vincent Liu, chief investment officer at Kronos Research, called the move a reflection of mindset rather than financial gain. “Legacy staking is more than locking assets—it’s a mindset,” Liu said. “The real edge in crypto isn’t in chasing short-term hype, but in holding long-term conviction assets through cycles. This kind of thinking builds not just portfolios, but long-term legacies.”
SOL’s price action over the past 24 hours (Source: CoinMarketCap)
At the time of writing, SOL was trading at $99.66 after its price fell by close to 15% throughout the past day of trading. Forecasts from firms like Bitwise suggest that the token could reach between $2,300 and $6,000 by 2030. With a 2%–5% annual appreciation rate, Liu shared that compounding over such an extended timeframe could generate an astronomical return. For instance, 5 cents compounded annually at just 3% for 3,115 years would result in more than $486 undecillion—a number with 36 zeros.
What makes this even more compelling is that staking rewards on the Solana network are typically paid out every two to three days, allowing for much more frequent compounding than traditional yearly models. While it’s impossible to predict what the staked amount will be worth in thousands of years, the idea still caused a wave of speculation online. Some believe it’s a serious attempt at building generational wealth, while others see it as a humorous meme trade destined to be immortalized on the Solana blockchain.
Kadan Stadelmann, CTO of the Komodo blockchain platform, explained that the act raises philosophical questions as well. “What will 3,000 years from now look like? Will humans still be around? Will the Solana blockchain?”
Currently, staking returns on Solana range between 5% and 8%, depending on the validator and platform used. In comparison, Cardano and Ethereum offer lower starting yields.
