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Over the past 24 hours, cryptocurrency liquidations reached $372 million. This is according to data from CoinGlass. The sell-off affected short traders more as their bets on price action failed to materialize.
The broader crypto industry saw positive price action as Bitcoin (BTC) briefly topped $100,000.
Bitcoin Leads Liquidation Peak
Bitcoin’s resurgence past the $100,000 resistance level fueled an altcoin rally as the market saw an upward price push.
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As expected, traders short positions in the leading digital asset, Bitcoin, were behind the fallout from the selloff.
With a total liquidation of $70.57 million, short traders accounted for more than half of the liquidation figures. Over the past 24 hours, $40.37 million was liquidated from short positions, with long traders accounting for $30.20 million.
Other significant sell-offs were recorded on Ethereum (ETH) and XRP, which saw total liquidations of $69 million and $42.50 million, respectively. In a similar pattern to Bitcoin, ETH saw more liquidations of short positions than long positions. The figures were $35.21 million for short positions versus $33.79 million for long positions.
XRP followed the same trajectory as short traders, with $27 million in liquidations, while long traders liquidated $15.50 million out of a total liquidation of $42.50 million.
Market volatility surprises traders
Analysts believe that Bitcoin’s price action over the past seven days could explain the massive liquidation of short traders. Notably, many expected BTC to fluctuate between $92,000 and $95,000.
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Therefore, BTC’s rise of over $100,000 caught many traders off guard as they expected the fluctuating trend to continue. However, new projections of BTC reaching $249,000 this year have emerged.
The same price stagnation was behind ETH and XRP last week. However, the rebound of most assets in the market occurred earlier than expected.
Market observers watch trends closely to see how long the bullish sentiment will last. This could mark the next round of recovery as the United States prepares to install a new administration on Monday, January 20.
