The price of bitcoin dipped below the $43,000 mark on Friday as increased market volatility followed the Securities and Exchange Commission's approval of multiple spot ETF applications.

The high volatility over the past day saw bitcoin almost touch $49,000 before posting a sharp decline below the $43,000 mark. The increased price fluctuations led to the liquidation of over $80 million worth of leveraged bitcoin positions. The majority of those leveraged positions were longs, with over $47 million wiped out.

According to Coinglass data, total liquidations in the past 24 hours for all leveraged crypto positions amounted to $209 million. The majority of the liquidations were long, with $121 million wiped out, and around $88 million in liquidated short positions.

In derivatives markets, liquidations take place when a trader's position is forcibly closed due to insufficient funds to cover losses. This situation arises when market movements are unfavorable to the trader's position, resulting in the depletion of their initial margin or collateral.

Increased market volatility and transaction volume

The volatility that shook out many leveraged positions was elevated compared to the preceding month. The Block's data dashboard puts current annualized bitcoin volatility at 46.5%, an increase from a low of 42.9% in mid-December.

Bitcoin BTC +0.61% 's on-chain transaction volume has increased to a 12-month high of $41.5 billion, according to The Block's data.

Although the decline in bitcoin's price could be interpreted as a "sell the news event," one analyst suggested the approval of multiple spot bitcoin ETFs provides the asset with institutional approval.

According to Copper Head of Research Fadi Aboualfa, the approval of spot bitcoin ETFs suggests the SEC considers that the cryptocurrency markets has matured. "It shows the SEC believes that crypto markets are in fact efficient, transparent, and void of market manipulation that would not allow them to protect investors, a key part of their mandate," Aboualfa told The Block.

The price of the world's largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization declined by over 7.9% in the past 24 hours, falling to $42,592 at 5:12 p.m. ET, according to The Block's Price Page.

(Updates with latest bitcoin price.)