Insights from Leverage.Trading’s first-party telemetry reveal how retail traders assess risk before market events unfold.
Despite the recent volatility that led to significant losses in both the cryptocurrency and equity markets, most news headlines tended to report on liquidations after they had already occurred. However, the latest data from Leverage.Trading’s Global Leverage & Risk Report (August 2025) indicates that retail traders experience stress well before market disruptions.
Based on data collected from 27,416 traders in 94 countries, the report captures how traders utilize risk calculators to evaluate liquidation thresholds, margin exposures, and position sizes in advance—a behavior that is not typically visible in broker data.
This activity reflects the actions of traders on major cryptocurrency leverage trading platforms and futures exchanges, where risk assessments are often conducted before executing trades.
From Planning to Execution
While traditional exchange feeds typically report on liquidations post-event, Leverage.Trading’s data focuses on how traders proactively manage risk before entering trades.
For instance, on July 11, there was a significant increase in liquidation safety checks just hours before a $1.29 billion short liquidation in Bitcoin. This data highlights how traders were already anticipating the market movement before the crash occurred.
This trend aligns with patterns observed in professional volatility data, where traders are seen to be more proactive in managing risk ahead of market events.
Key Highlights from August
August 2025 presented several instances of heightened market stress:
- Aug 12—ETH Rally: As Ethereum surged towards $4,400, liquidation checks increased by 23% overnight in anticipation of market turbulence.
- Aug 15—$6B Options Expiry: U.S. traders conducted a 13.7% rise in risk checks as BTC/ETH contracts expired, adjusting their positions in real-time.
- Aug 16—Panic Peak: The most significant one-day surge occurred with a 28.5% increase in liquidation checks, indicating peak retail stress.
- Aug 17—Pre-Liquidation Surge: Prior to a $576 million liquidation wave, risk checks rose by 19.4% as traders scrambled to protect their positions.
“The most successful traders don’t wait for news headlines—they analyze the numbers first. Our August data demonstrates how stress levels were escalating before the market turmoil,” said Anton Palovaara, the founder of Leverage.Trading.
