Bitcoin jumps past $37K as $206.48M shorts get liquidated across exchanges.
Cryptocurrency prices saw a sudden spike today, with Bitcoin surging past $37,900 and Ethereum crossing $2,100. This price movement appears to have been fueled by a short squeeze, with massive liquidations of short positions.
According to data from Coinglass, approximately $78.44 million worth of Bitcoin shorts and $118.47 million in total Bitcoin positions were liquidated in the last 24 hours. For Ethereum, $52.54 million in shorts and $74.79 million in total positions were liquidated over the same period.
The initial massive jump in prices seems to have been sparked by the confirmation that BlackRock registered an Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF) entity in Delaware yesterday. This news fueled speculation that approval of the first US Ethereum ETF is imminent, sending ETH prices surging.
The liquidations likely caused prices to spike further as traders rushed to cover their short positions. Bitcoin jumped from around $34,000 to over $37,900 before stabilizing near $36,479 at press time. Ethereum rallied from under $1,800 to above $2,100.
According to Coinglass, OKX saw the most liquidations with a total liquidation of $164.39M. The largest single liquidation order was valued at $14.76M. Binance followed with $153.91M worth of liquidated shorts.
The BlackRock ETH ETF news triggered a short squeeze in crypto, which happens when an asset's price suddenly jumps higher, forcing traders who had bet against it to buy back their short positions. This buying activity feeds on itself and drives prices even higher.
