The price of Bitcoin is just 3% away from reaching its all-time high (ATH) of $73,750. If it continues its current upward trend and surpasses $74,300, it would trigger the liquidation of approximately $1.45 billion in short positions.
According to data from CoinGlass, there are significantly more long-leveraged positions than short-leveraged positions. Shorting Bitcoin involves borrowing BTC and selling it, with the expectation that the price will decrease. The goal for the trader is to buy back the Bitcoin at a lower price, repay the loan, and profit from the price difference.
Aside from the potential impact on short sellers, the recent price momentum has already resulted in the liquidation of around $328 million in leveraged positions within the past 24 hours. Out of this amount, $64 million were long positions, while $264 million were short positions.
Since the block subsidy halving in April, Bitcoin has been trading sideways in the range of $60,000 to $65,000 for almost a month. However, in the past few days, the price has increased by over 5%, surpassing the $70,000 mark on May 20 and reaching a new multiweek high. Within 24 hours, the top cryptocurrency was trading above $72,000.
There are several factors contributing to this recent bullish price momentum, including growing investor confidence, a decrease in exchange supply, and inflows into spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) based in the United States after nearly two weeks of net outflows. On May 20, spot Bitcoin ETFs received positive inflows totaling $235 million. ARK Invest had the largest net inflow, adding over 1,000 BTC, followed closely by BlackRock with an inflow of 965 BTC. Additionally, the Grayscale ETF, which had been experiencing outflows for weeks, recorded an inflow of 140 BTC, marking its fourth consecutive day of positive inflows.
The current bullish price action for BTC has also led to new highs in various countries, including Japan, Singapore, and Argentina.