Bitcoin price breaks out above $71,000, causing spike in short liquidations

Quick Take

  • Recent volatility in the bitcoin market has caused over $56 million in short liquidations, Coinglass data shows.
  • Spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds experienced a total net inflow on Monday.

The upward price trajectory of bitcoin over the past 24 hours has resulted in over $56 million worth of bitcoin short liquidations.

There have been over $193 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours in the cryptocurrency market. Of these liquidations, the vast majority, around $129 million, were short positions. Bitcoin short positions took the largest share of the damage, with over $56 million in liquidations in the past 24 hours, according to Coinglass data

The wipeout of short positions came as bitcoin broke above the $71,000 mark. The largest digital asset by market capitalization increased by over 6% in the past 24 hours and was changing hands for $71,041 at 5:42 a.m. ET, according to The Block's Price Page. Despite that, the GM 30 Index, representing a selection of the top 30 cryptocurrencies, has decreased by 5.43% to 157.83 in the past 24 hours.

The price of bitcoin increased by over 6% on Tuesday. Image: The Block.

Following the uptick in prices, QCP Captial analysts questioned whether a catalyst is in play that could see bitcoin reach a new all-time high. Bitcoin last reached an all-time high on March 14 above $73,000.

"There is certainly strong topside momentum with bitcoin breaking above $70,000 overnight on headlines that the London Stock Exchange will start trading ETNs for bitcoin and ether in May, and asset managers also continue to add bitcoin allocations as a 'portfolio diversifier'. Short of a broader macro risk-off, the next leg higher seems like an inevitability at this point," Tuesday's QCP Capital report said.

Spot bitcoin ETFs break five-day outflow streak

The net inflow into spot bitcoin ETFs on Monday totaled $15.7 million, according to data from SoSo Value, breaking a trend of net outflows for five consecutive days.

The spot bitcoin ETF with the highest single-day net inflow on Monday was Fidelity's ETF (FBTC), with a net inflow of about $261 million, followed by BlackRock ETF (IBIT), with a single-day net inflow of about $35.48 million.


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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].

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