In the past 24 hours, leveraged trades worth over $361 million were liquidated as Bitcoin (BTC) reached a new all-time high of $73,050 before dropping below $70,000 on March 12. Data from Coinglass, a crypto trading and information platform, reveals that the price swing primarily resulted in the liquidation of long positions, wiping out $258 million, while short sellers lost just over $103 million.
This recent liquidation of long positions is the largest since March 5, when Bitcoin fell to $60,800 after reaching its previous all-time high of approximately $69,000.
The volatility during this period was not as intense, with Bitcoin’s price fluctuating by only 4.85% between its low of $69,365 and its high of $72,733, according to CoinGecko. Currently, Bitcoin has stabilized at $71,400.
A spokesperson from 10x Research stated that the increase in volatility is likely due to traders anticipating a price correction. However, the spokesperson also mentioned that there is a significant fear of missing out (FOMO) among traders, which could indicate that the rally will continue.
Additionally, 10x Research noted a 5% increase in futures open interest over the weekend of March 9 and 10, suggesting that traders may have placed these bets with tight stops.
Bitcoin and Ether (ETH) trades accounted for the highest amount of liquidations in the past 24 hours, with $106.3 million and $73.3 million, respectively. Other cryptocurrencies such as Solana (SOL), Dogecoin (DOGE), and the Bitcoin-based memecoin Ordi (ORDI) also experienced significant liquidations.
Among crypto exchanges, OKX had the highest combined short and long liquidations, totaling $152 million, while Binance traders incurred losses of $128.4 million.
In a separate report, research firm S3 Partners revealed that short sellers lost over $6 billion while attempting to bet against publicly traded crypto firms during the first 11 months of 2023, as Bitcoin surged by 130% to $37,800.
Overall, the recent surge in volatility and liquidations highlights the dynamic nature of the cryptocurrency market, with traders eagerly anticipating price movements while facing potential losses if their bets go against them.