Bitcoin’s price on the decentralized perpetuals exchange Paradex unexpectedly plummeted to zero overnight, as reported by multiple users. This anomaly was caused by a database migration problem that disrupted Paradex’s blockchain, block explorer, bridge, and API functionalities.
The issue was initially reported on the Paradex status page at 12:36 a.m. ET on Monday. Shortly before this update, social media users highlighted a wave of liquidations triggered when Bitcoin’s price suddenly dropped to $0 on the platform.
By approximately 2:00 a.m. ET, Paradex had pinpointed the root cause and began implementing corrective measures. This involved rolling back the state of the Paradex Chain—a blockchain constructed using Starknet technology—back to an earlier stable point. Starknet operates as an Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution.
“We have identified the issue and will be rolling back chain state to block 1604710,” stated an official update from Paradex. “This block represents the last verified correct state prior to database maintenance. All user accounts will be restored accordingly before any changes were made during maintenance.”
Soon after initiating this rollback process, Paradex forcefully canceled all outstanding orders remaining open at that time. By around 5:00 a.m. ET, they confirmed that user funds remained secure throughout their ongoing recovery efforts.
A further message posted at 5:16 a.m. ET reassured users: “Recovery efforts are ongoing; we can confirm all user funds are SAFU (secure).”
The total value affected by liquidations remains uncertain; however, data from DeFiLlama reveals that approximately $641 million in open interest is currently held within this perpetuals protocol alone—which has processed roughly $37 billion in trading volume over the past month.
According to updates on their status page, all services provided by Paradex have since resumed normal operation following these disruptions.
This pricing error occurred amid recent volatility for Bitcoin (BTC), which saw its value fall from above $95,000 down to about $92,284 shortly after 7 p.m., Sunday evening UTC time—a decline of nearly two percent within one day—eroding much of its weekly gains now standing near +1.4%, with BTC last trading close to $93,318.
The downward movement sparked widespread liquidations totaling over $875 million across various platforms in just twenty-four hours; out of these losses approximately $234 million were linked directly with Bitcoin positions according to CoinGlass analytics data.