Bitcoin (BTC) had a wild ride, briefly shooting up past $89,000 in early Asian hours before pulling back to around $87,000. The surge pushed its 7-day gains to over 32%.
This rollercoaster caused nearly $700 million in liquidations on crypto-tracked futures, hitting both longs and shorts — that is, bets on prices going up or down. Bearish traders saw $380 million vanish, while bullish bets took a $290 million hit.
This is the biggest wave of liquidations since April, back when BTC had a quick climb over $73,000. BTC futures hit bearish traders hard, with short liquidations racking up over $200 million. Not to be left out, Ether’s bearish traders got clobbered too, with another $40 million in short liquidations.
And it wasn’t just the big players taking hits — midcap tokens like Solana (SOL) and Aptos (APT) joined the liquidation party, each dropping over $25 million. Usually, these futures rack up liquidations under $5 million, but clearly, the ‘play-it-safe’ era is over, and traders are diving back into the deep end.
Annualized Funding Rates on Futures are Spiking
Meanwhile, annualized funding rates are spiking, hitting over 30% for some altcoin futures. According to Coinglass, that’s a pretty good sign traders are willing to pay top dollar to stay in the game.
— naiive (@naiivememe) November 12, 2024
Bitcoin jumped over 7% in the past 24 hours, fueled by an extra-bullish weekend and the buzz from Donald Trump’s recent presidential win.
Crypto sentiment is sky-high, with analysts suggesting a Republican sweep could send the total market cap soaring to $10 trillion by 2026, up from today’s $3 trillion. They’re even tossing out a $100,000 price target for BTC by year’s end.
But traders are keeping it real, warning that a quick spike past $90,000 could trigger a leverage shakeout and a short-term dip. So, while $100,000 is still in sight, we might be in for a more gradual climb.
What’s Behind Bitcoin’s Latest Pump?
Bitcoin’s latest climb past $89K? According to Onramp Bitcoin’s Jesse Myers, it’s more about the post-halving supply squeeze than the U.S. election buzz. Sure, a Bitcoin-friendly administration doesn’t hurt, but Myers points to April’s halving event — which cut block rewards to 3.125 BTC — as the real game-changer.
The supply is tightening up just as interest is booming, especially with the growing demand for Bitcoin ETFs. Just on Nov. 11, U.S. Bitcoin ETFs pulled in nearly 13,940 BTC, while only 450 BTC were mined, adding serious pressure on the limited supply.
Bitcoiners knowing what 80K means.. pic.twitter.com/bf9D2MIDbg
— RŌNIN (@ronin21btc) November 10, 2024
Myers says this shortage makes price hikes almost inevitable, triggering what he calls a “predictable bubble” that tends to follow each halving (we’ve seen this play out in 2012, 2016, and 2020). Analyst James Check agrees, noting that Bitcoin’s fixed supply and smaller market cap of $1.6 trillion make it ripe for price growth — especially when you compare it to gold’s $6 trillion cap.
Richard Adrian
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