Bitcoin Price Rollercoaster Liquidates $360 Million in Long and Short Positions
In a recent analysis, 10x Research highlighted significant liquidations affecting traders who anticipated a price correction and others caught by Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) as Bitcoin continued its ascent.
Over $361 million in leveraged positions were unwound in the last 24 hours as Bitcoin soared to a new peak of $73,050 on March 12 before dipping below $70,000, data from the digital currency business and information platform Coinglass revealed. The price volatility primarily eliminated long positions, totaling $258 million, while short sellers saw just over $103 million wiped out.
This marks the most significant long position liquidation since March 5, when Bitcoin tumbled from around $69,000 to $60,800 after reaching a previous high. According to CoinGecko, this round of volatility was less severe, with Bitcoin only fluctuating 4.85% between its March 12 low of $69,365 and a high of $72,733. Since then, Bitcoin has recovered to around $71,400 at the time of publication.
A spokesperson for 10x Research told CoinTelegraph that the surge in volatility likely stems from traders’ anticipation of a price correction. “Traders are getting increasingly nervous about a potential price correction as Bitcoin has not been rallying during US trading hours when ETF trading begins,” the spokesperson added. Meanwhile, a significant FOMO wave suggests the rally might continue.
10x Research also noted that the open interest in futures contracts over the weekend of March 9 and 10 increased by 5%, raising suspicions of encounters with stop-loss orders.
Bitcoin and Ether trades accounted for the most significant liquidations in the past 24 hours, with $106.3 million and $73.3 million, respectively. Solana, Dogecoin, and the Bitcoin-based memecoin Ordi (ORDI) also experienced notable liquidations. The most substantial short and long liquidations occurred on the cryptocurrency exchange OKX, totaling $152 million, while Binance traders collectively faced a loss of $128.4 million.
According to research firm S3 Partners, bearish investors lost over $6 billion in attempts to bet against public cryptocurrency companies in the first 11 months of 2023, as Bitcoin surged by 130% to reach $37,800 during the same period.
