Crypto Short Liquidations Near $300 Million as Bitcoin and Ethereum Prices Spike

Bitcoin and Ethereum’s latest price surge has ravaged short traders across the entire crypto market.According to CoinGlass, over $383 million in crypto liquidations have occurred within the past 24 hours, with $297 million worth of those trades impacting shorts. That includes over 94,000 traders, with the largest single liquidation worth $4.26 million.Ethereum (ETH) traders took up the largest share of those liquidations at $131 million, compared to Bitcoin traders’ $108 million losses. Between the two coins, ETH has experienced a much steeper climb in the past 24 hours, up 22% next to Bitcoin’s 4.6% jump, according to data from CoinGecko.1 month of #Bitcoin short position build up just got liquidated.One more layer to go in order to short squeeze past all time highs. pic.twitter.com/tyTz5DyNED— Willy Woo (@woonomic) May 21, 2024Markets were hit by a bullish shock on Monday: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had suddenly begun engaging with national securities exchanges surrounding their applications to list Ethereum spot ETFs on their platforms.If approved, the products—whose sponsors include BlackRock, Fidelity, and Grayscale—will allow institutional investors gain spot exposure to ETH, much like Bitcoin spot ETFs did for BTC in January.Ahead of Tuesday, the Bitcoin ETFs have so far absorbed $12.8 billion in net inflows, making ETH bulls excited for the potential wave of demand that may be waiting on their favorite coin.Monday’s news spurred Bloomberg’s ETF experts to up their odds of an approval this month for the ETFs from 25% to 75%. In a note on Tuesday, Standard Chartered bank likewise predicted that Ethereum ETFs will be approved this week.After the latest pump, Glassnode analyst James Check predicted that Bitcoin and crypto may be at “ground zero” for a “second wave” of ETF demand.“For some reason, people keep betting against this uptrend… with leverage no less,” wrote Check in his newsletter on Tuesday, referencing recent liquidations. “Many folks still think the Bitcoin boat needs to sink, but in my opinion, they are swimming against the tide.”Edited by Stacy Elliott and Andrew HaywardDisclaimerThe views and opinions expressed by the author are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice.