ETF Talks Drive Bitcoin Above Key Level – Bears Pay the Price
$30K Under Attack: Do We Have Lift Off?
The past 48 hours have unfolded as a massacre for bearish traders in the world of cryptocurrencies. Many considered the move up from $25,000 support a mere “dead cat bounce” and took short positions but faced a harsh reality as liquidations of more than $200 million ensued. Wednesday’s trading session proved to be the most unforgiving for bearish traders of Bitcoin and select altcoins since the early days of 2023.
The rally resulted in the liquidation of a whopping $227 million worth of both short and long positions. Approximately 80% of these substantial liquidations were short positions.
As reported by crypto analytics platform Coinglass, Bitcoin bears incurred losses amounting to a staggering $80.93 million Wednesday. In contrast, the losses suffered by bullish traders were merely a quarter of that amount. This was the most substantial liquidation of Bitcoin short positions in over three months.
Altcoin Bears Are Hunted as Well
Litecoin bears didn’t have it any easier losing over $2.72 million—marking one of the most painful episodes for LTC bears in recent memory.
Ethereum bears were generally okay, but on BitMex, a lone unfortunate trader lost a colossal $2.1 million in a single deal.
Even meme coin traders were hit hard. PEPE enthusiasts incurred losses exceeding $10 million, while DOGE traders were dealt a blow of roughly $2.6 million in recent days.
Over the last seven days, the overall capitalization of cryptocurrency markets witnessed a remarkable 15% increase. Bitcoin, the dominant force in the cryptocurrency realm, skyrocketed by more than 22.1% within a single week.
The surge in cryptocurrency prices and the accompanying volatility can be attributed to the renewed excitement surrounding Bitcoin ETFs. In recent days, numerous giant asset management firms such as Fidelity, Invesco, and BlackRock, have unveiled their intentions to pursue Bitcoin ETF approvals from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Let’s see where this goes and whether these ETFs will actually materialize or not.
Chart Analysis – BTC/USD
It has been clear for a rather long time that $25,000 is a key level, both from a technical and psychological perspective. The recent bounce proved once again the importance of this level, triggering a massive rally that took BTC/USD right into the next major hurdle: $30,000 (trading at $29,920 at the time of writing).
Despite the massive surge, we shouldn’t overlook the fact that the RSI has just moved above its 70 level, indicating overbought conditions. Also, it’s common to see a pullback after a strong rally, thus it wouldn’t be a stretch to see BTC/USD drop.
On the other hand, the Bollinger Bands are expanding, indicating bullish momentum. Although the bulls are raging, do not dismiss a bearish bounce at $30K.
