TL;DR
- Bitcoin has come close to its all-time high (ATH) of $69,000, causing liquidations worth nearly $550 million in the past 24 hours. This includes losses from crypto-tracked futures and meme coins, with leveraged bets on crypto futures increasing to over $66 billion in the past week.
- There is widespread anticipation among traders for Bitcoin to surpass its ATH before the halving event in April. Additionally, there are expectations for the approval of a spot Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF) in May.
- Certain analysts view the extraordinary fluctuations in SHIB tokens as a predominantly bearish indicator, as historically, the exceptional performance of meme coins has often signified local peaks on Bitcoin.
Bitcoin has come close to its all-time high (ATH) of $69,000, leaving a trail of liquidations worth nearly $550 million in the past 24 hours. This volatile price action has left both bulls and bears in shock.
Crypto-tracked futures saw nearly $550 million in losses, with meme coins accounting for some $90 million in evaporated bets alone. In the past week, leverage bets on crypto futures increased to over $66 billion, while funding rates on some tokens have zoomed to over 100% annualized.
Bitcoin and Ether experienced a brief surge, reaching $68,500 and $3,700 respectively, driven by the ongoing excitement from various factors. However, early Asian trading hours saw a wave of profit-taking, causing Bitcoin to drop to a low of $64,500 before bouncing back just below the $67,000 mark.
Positions betting on price increases, known as longs, suffered losses exceeding $256 million. Conversely, shorts, which are bets on price decreases, saw a reduction of $288 million. An unusual event occurred where futures for Dogecoin (DOGE), Shiba Inu (SHIB), and Pepecoin (PEPE) collectively lost $90 million across various exchanges.
Anticipation for Bitcoin’s All-Time Highs and the Halving Event
Liquidation refers to the forced closure of a trader’s leveraged position by an exchange due to a partial or complete loss of the trader’s initial margin. Significant liquidations can indicate the peak or trough of a sharp price movement, providing traders with potential positioning opportunities.
There is widespread anticipation among traders for Bitcoin to surpass its all-time highs before the halving event in April. Additionally, there are expectations for approving a spot Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF) in May. Consequently, some funds predict an increase in leverage as Bitcoin nears its all-time high of $69,000.
According to a post on Telegram, crypto fund QCO Capital said, “Leveraged buyers will likely not relent until we break all-time highs, which could be any time now.” This level of leverage mirrors what we observed in 2021, driving the front part of the curve upwards while maintaining a high position for the back end.
Meanwhile, certain analysts view the extraordinary fluctuations in SHIB tokens as a predominantly bearish indicator. This is because historically, the exceptional performance of meme coins has often signified local peaks on Bitcoin, attributed to speculative excess.
