Bitcoin shorts liquidated in $102M frenzy

In the last 24 hours, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) reached over $70,400, causing over $102 million worth of leveraged short positions to be liquidated. This indicates a potential breakout from BTC’s weekly price range. Following the weekly high of $72,668, the price of Bitcoin dropped slightly to trade above $70,413. According to CoinMarketCap data, the cryptocurrency fell by 0.55% in the 24-hour period leading up to 9:45 am (UTC).

CoinGlass data reveals that during the past 24 hours, a total of $186.8 million worth of liquidations occurred in the cryptocurrency market. Out of this amount, over $102 million worth of leveraged short positions were liquidated. BTC liquidations accounted for $61.6 million, with over $33.9 million in short positions and $27.7 million in leveraged longs. The largest single liquidation order was worth $4.49 million and occurred on Binance, the world’s largest exchange. It is worth noting that the $33 million worth of short Bitcoin liquidations is actually lower than the $38 million from April 2 when BTC experienced a sudden 5% drawdown, resulting in $165 million of leverage being liquidated in less than two hours.

If the price of BTC rallies back to $73,000, it is expected that over $507 million worth of cumulative short leverage would be liquidated on Binance. This would mean that cumulative short liquidations on Binance would reach $666 million at a price level of $73,500. Traders need to pay attention to the $73,000 level, which is currently acting as significant resistance and a potential short-liquidation zone for the BTC price.

After the recent liquidations, the Bitcoin futures funding rate experienced a reset and fell to 0.0163% on April 9. This is almost three times lower than the previous day but still significantly lower than the three-week high of 0.0714% on April 1.

The price of Bitcoin has successfully broken out of its weekly range and has retested the old all-time high of $69,000. This breakout is seen as a confirmation of future bullish momentum by popular crypto analyst Rekt Capital. In a subsequent post, the analyst stated that Bitcoin’s daily close above the $69,000 level and its current upside movement indicate positive market conditions.

The recent rally in Bitcoin’s price can be attributed to the influx of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and the anticipation of the upcoming Bitcoin halving. Research analyst Matteo Greco predicts a sustained rally in Bitcoin following the halving, which could last until the second quarter of 2025. He believes that historical patterns suggest an uptrend for the remaining nine months of 2024, leading to a cycle peak expected between Q4 2024 and Q2 2025.