Bitcoin Rally Above $57K Causes Spike in Short Liquidations

Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market cap, surged to a two-year high of over $57,000 as spot BTC ETF trading volume increased. As of writing, Bitcoin noted an upswing of 10.73% over the past 24 hours and is currently trading at $56,824. The price rally led to a substantial liquidation of short positions on centralized exchanges (CEXs).

According to data from crypto data platform CoinGlass, the volatility resulted in the liquidations of more than $199.40 million in BTC positions, with the majority ($174.82 million) being shorts. Traders seeking to gain short exposure to Ethereum (ETH) didn’t fare much better, with liquidations reaching almost $47.24 million within the same timeframe. Over $293.86 million in short positions were liquidated in total as the market spiked upward.

Bitcoin’s price surge during early Asian hours on Tuesday spilled into altcoins, including ETH, which is trading above $3,282, up nearly 7.17% in the past 24 hrs. Moreover, Solana (SOL), the fifth largest crypto by market cap, also saw a nearly 9.42% rise, trading above $110.84. According to Coingecko data, the entire market cap of crypto currently sits at $2.25 trillion, with a jump of 8.1% in the last 24 hrs.

The recent BTC price rally followed a new all-time high in daily trading volume for US spot Bitcoin ETFs. The total spot BTC ETFs recorded $2.4 billion in daily volume on Feb. 26, led by BlackRock’s ETF (IBIT), which accounted for $1.3 billion of the total volume.

Co-founder of US-based crypto exchange Gemini, Tyler Winklevoss, said, “We’re so back!” Meanwhile, Bitcoin advocate Dan Held called today’s price movement “the start of the Bitcoin bull run.”

Welcome to the beginning of the Bitcoin bull run.

Be prepared for many sleepless nights 😂

— Dan Held (@danheld) February 27, 2024

Spot Bitcoin ETFs See $520M Net Inflow

According to data by Farside, the net inflow for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF) was $520 million on Feb. 26. All nine ETFs saw a significant inflow, and Grayscale’s GBTC witnessed another drop in BTC outflow.

BlackRock’s IBIT saw a record influx of $111.8 million, with the net inflow hitting $6 billion. Ark 21Shares (ARKB) and Fidelity (FBTC) recorded $130.6 million and $243.3 million, respectively. VanEck (HODL), Bitwise (BITB), and others also witnessed substantial inflows amid bullish sentiment. Meanwhile, GBTC experienced its third consecutive trading day of declining net outflows, hitting a new low of $22.4 million.