Bitcoin climbs back above $63,500 as market volatility causes spike in liquidations

Quick Take

  • The bitcoin price has climbed back above the $63,500 mark.
  • Market volatility over the past day has resulted in the liquidation of over $150 million leveraged bitcoin positions.

The price of bitcoin climbed back above the $63,500 mark during early-day trading on Wednesday, after a volatile 24 hours that saw the digital asset's price drop to a recent low of $69,900.

The value of the largest cryptocurrency by market cap increased over 1% in the past 24 hours, trading at $63,559 at 7:50 a.m. ET, according to The Block's Price Page.

The price of bitcoin has climbed back above the $63,000 mark. Image: The Block.

The price action over the past day led to substantial liquidations of both long and short positions on centralized exchanges. This volatility resulted in the liquidation of more than $150 million in bitcoin positions, with over $78 million bitcoin longs and over $72 million shorts liquidated, according to CoinGlass data.

The second-largest crypto, ether, experienced a muted 0.3% increase over the past day — now standing at $3,262 at 7:48 a.m. ET. However, SOL, the native coin of the Solana network remains in the red, falling over 2% in the same period, according to The Block’s Prices Page.

The overall crypto market experienced over $275 million in liquidated long positions in the last 24 hours, contributing to a total of $428 million in liquidations across various centralized exchanges, the data show.

Liquidations occur when a trader’s position is forcibly closed due to a lack of funds to cover losses. This happens when market movements are unfavorable to the trader’s position, leading to the depletion of their initial margin or collateral.


Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

About Author

Brian McGleenon is a UK-based markets reporter for The Block. He has worked as a financial journalist and producer for multiple news outlets over the years, such as Fuji Television, The Independent, Yahoo Finance, The Evening Standard, and The Daily Express. Brian is also a screenwriter and producer with one feature film produced and one in development with Northern Ireland Screen. Apart from web3 and cryptocurrency developments, he is also interested in geopolitics, environmental issues, artificial intelligence, and longevity research. Get in touch via email [email protected].

Editor

To contact the editor of this story:
Vishal Chawla at
[email protected]