Bitcoin’s $73K Breakout Triggers $250M in Short Liquidations; Short Sellers Face Major Losses

On late October 29 the price of Bitcoin rose above $73,500, causing more than $250 million in short liquidations throughout the entire crypto market.

This rapid price shift forced the stop-loss orders of more than 60,000 traders who were bearish in the crypto market, with bitcoin liquidations amounting to $124 million according to CoinGlass.

Within 24 hours,tradingview shows the value of Bitcoin rose by almost 4% hitting $73,620 which is its highest price in October. The increase in price caught the market unawares, breaking a fairly quiet and oscillating weekend trading and reaching the highest figure which has not been witnessed since the end of September.

Bitcoin reached over $73,500 for the first time this month. Source: TradingView 

Bitcoin Short Sellers Hit Hard By Sudden Price Surge

The sudden rise in Bitcoin's price proved to be a nightmare for short sellers as almost 50% of the liquidations in october 29 came from Bitcoin shorts position.

According to CoinGlass, short positions in Bitcoin reached a liquidation value of $124.56 million and shorts in Ethereum reached $33.06 million. Overall, there were approximately 60,610 liquidated traders across all positions and trades in the last 24 hours.

Bitcoin short sellers made up almost half of the short liquidations in the past 24 hours. Source: CoinGlass

Ethereum, which has rallied with Bitcoin, is still far from the figure of $2,775 that it reached in the previous week although  on October 29 it reached a high of $2,680 which is a gain of 2.79% in the last 24 hours. With this strong surge in the prices of the major cryptocurrencies, there is also a lot of pain for the short sellers as the overall trend in the crypto market shifts to bullish.

Crypto Market Recovers and Altcoins Join in the Gain!

Several altcoins made gains over the past 24 hours as well, with altcoin Linear (LINA) rising 27.97%, reaching a peak of $0.005596 in the last 24hrs, following the overall bullish market trend.

The gains posted have also indicated the volatility and rapid movements that are typical of the crypto market.

The recent trends in the market suggest an increase in investor interest, and perhaps, further inflows in the near future, however, the large losses that short-sellers have suffered stand testimony to the dangers of engaging in leveraged trades in such a changing market.

However,as the crypto market faces uncertainty, traders are reacting quickly and adjusting to new circumstances as Bitcoin returns to fresh levels.