Bitcoin short squeeze: $85M in BTC shorts liquidated in 24 hours

Bitcoin (BTC) experienced a dramatic market shift as its total liquidations surged to $97.06 million, driven by $10.98 million in long positions and a staggering $85.08 million in short positions being wiped out. 

The sudden price increase caused over $260 million in market-wide short liquidations on May 20, the largest since February 28th. Ethereum (ETH) shorts lost over $115 million, followed by Bitcoin shorts at just over $97 million, according to data from Coinglass.

This upheaval occurred as Bitcoin’s price surged around 5% in the past 24 hours, reaching $71,078.15. The cryptocurrency’s 24-hour trading volume also skyrocketed by 138%, valued at $54.065 billion, with a market capitalization of $1.40 trillion.

BTC Liquidation Heatmap, 24-hour  chart. Source: CoinGlass

Market liquidity and exchange reserves

Adding to the bullish sentiment, exchange BTC reserves have plummeted to a seven-year low, with CryptoQuant data showing only 1,9184,152 BTC available on major trading platforms as of May 20, a significant decrease from the previous year.

Exchange BTC reserves. Source: CryptoQuant

This reduction in exchange reserves is considered bullish because it indicates that more investors are moving their Bitcoin off exchanges and into personal wallets. 

This behavior suggests that they are holding onto their Bitcoin for the long term, expecting the price to rise.

When fewer BTC are available on exchanges, it can lead to reduced selling pressure and increased scarcity, potentially driving up the price.

Despite the optimistic outlook, investors must remain cautious with Bitcoin trading. This is due to macroeconomic concerns related to the Fed’s interest rates and microeconomic concerns related to Bitcoin miners’ revenue drop, which affects network security.

While Bitcoin was experiencing notable liquidations, Ethereum also saw significant price action. ETH pumped by 20%, adding to the overall market excitement.

The movements in both Bitcoin and Ethereum highlight the current volatility in the cryptocurrency market, driven by various factors, including ETF developments and technical market resistance levels.

Nevertheless, cryptocurrencies are highly volatile, and is hard to forecast further performance.

Disclaimer: The content on this site should not be considered investment advice. Investing is speculative. When investing, your capital is at risk.