Blockchain
Bitcoin (BTC) Breaks Above $71,000 as Ether ETF (ETH) Hopes Lead to $260 Million in Short Liquidations
Bitcoin (BTC) It rose more than $71,000 on Tuesday, its highest since early April, while ether jumped more than 19% to $3,700 after Bloomberg analysts raised the probability that the exchange-traded ETF (ETF) Fund) ETH spot is approved in the United States.
Other majors posted relatively smaller gains, with XRP, Cardano’s ADA, Solana’s SOL and dogecoin (DOGE) rising between 3-6%, according to data from CoinGecko.
The sudden rally caused market-wide short liquidations of more than $260 million, the largest since February 28. Ether shorts lost over $115 million, followed by Bitcoin shorts at just over $99 million, Coinglass data shows this.
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance recorded liquidations of more than $130 million, the largest among its counterparts, followed by OKX with $118 million and Huobi with $51 million.
Shorts are bets against higher price movements. Liquidation refers to when an exchange forcibly closes a trader’s leveraged position due to a partial or total loss of the trader’s initial margin. It happens when a trader is unable to meet the margin requirements for a leveraged position (does not have sufficient funds to keep the trade open).
Markets began to recover late Monday when Bloomberg analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart raised the odds of a spot ether ETF to 75% from 20% earlier. After, CoinDesk reported that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has asked would-be ether exchange-traded fund exchanges to update their 19b-4 filings ahead of this week’s key deadline.
Meanwhile, some traders expect ether prices to rise further in the coming days.
“Our view is that the point is unlikely to stabilize here, with approval taking us closer to 4k and rejection to 3k,” Singapore-based QCP Capital said in a Tuesday broadcast. “Exchanges are being asked to update 19b-4 filings on an expedited basis, suggesting approval is imminent.”