2 - 4 minute read
Bitcoin, the world’s largest and most popular cryptocurrency, has seen one of its most impressive rallies in the past year, charting a two-month high above $21,000. This surge in value has not only impacted the price of bitcoin but also that of alternative coins, resulting in over $650 million in liquidations on a 24-hour scale, the majority of which were from short positions.
The start of the year has been quite favorable for the cryptocurrency market, with bitcoin standing at around $16,500 on January 1st. After a quiet first few days, it began to add value and broke above $17,000 earlier this week. However, that was just the start, as the asset kept breaking into forgotten ground in the following days and finally reached $20,000 late last night. It continued climbing and jumped to $21,240 (on Bitstamp) for the first time since the FTX collapse unfolded at the beginning of November.
Several alternative coins, or altcoins, have also seen impressive gains in the past 24 hours. Solana has stolen the show with a massive 40% rally, driving it to a multi-month high of its own at above $23. Polkadot (20%), Shiba Inu (14%), Ethereum (10.5%), Cardano (11%), Dogecoin (11%), Polygon (10%), and OKB (10%) are just some of the examples of double-digit price gainers. This has resulted in the overall crypto market cap nearing $1 trillion for the first time in months on CoinMarketCap.
Short traders have felt the pain of this impressive rally, with the total value of liquidated positions in the past day standing at $650 million, but $590 million are from shorts. More than 110,000 traders have been affected in the same timeframe, with the largest single order happening on Huobi, which was worth over $6.5 million.
This recent rally in the cryptocurrency market serves as a reminder of the volatility and potential for significant gains in the crypto space. It also highlights the importance of caution when making investments, especially in short positions. As the market continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how these gains hold up and what the future holds for the cryptocurrency market.
