Short sellers see $50 million liquidated as BTC, ETH surge

More than $50 million worth of short-term liquidations occurred in Bitcoin and Ethereum in the past 24 hours, as prices reached their highest levels in weeks.

Although most of the liquidation volume came from short positions, bullish bets also suffered losses, with over $58 million worth of long positions liquidated in the market. However, the market rose in early trading on Wednesday, with Bitcoin (BTC) rising from $64,000 to over $66,000 on major exchanges. Ethereum (ETH) rose above $3,500.

That price rally led to widespread liquidations, according to data from Coinglass. Bear bets accounted for the largest share of liquidations across many digital assets. Bitcoin alone saw more than $30 million in short liquidations, while Ethereum saw more than $21 million, Coinglass data shows.

Other top altcoins and meme coins also saw significant liquidations, including Solana with over $4 million, Worldcoin with over $4.9 million, and XRP with over $4.5 million in short liquidations. Meanwhile, meme coin Pepe saw over $2.9 million in short liquidations amid rising prices.

At the time of writing, the market had liquidated over $155 million in 24 hours, with over $94 million of that being short positions.

Are the bulls responsible?

Cryptocurrency prices have been generally bullish since the weekend, a trend noted by Bitfinex analysts over the past two months. However, they warned that prices could change later in the week due to ongoing selling pressure, as seen on Tuesday when Bitcoin and Ethereum fell following news about Mt. Gox, allowing bears to push prices lower.

Despite this, sentiment remains largely positive and net inflows are in line. Crypto analyst Michael van de Poppe suggests that if BTC stabilizes above $65,000, it could allow the bulls to target a new high.

The largest amount of net inflow #Bitcoin Since the end of June!

Despite the negative news, Bitcoin’s price remained stable at $65,000 amid steady inflow from institutional investors.

It’s only a matter of time before Bitcoin reaches $100,000. pic.twitter.com/f46xvn7SkJ

— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) July 17, 2024