Beware of volatility! This January 3, 2024 is already a little special, because if we celebrate the 15 years since the launch of the Bitcoin (BTC) network by Satoshi Nakamotothe prices of the queen of cryptocurrencies have experienced real Russian mountains in the last 48 hours. And speculators are paying the price, since new monster clearances cut short many positions.
From euphoria to panic on Bitcoin in 24 hours flat!
It is the emotional elevator on the cryptocurrency market at the start of 2024. Barely the year has started when here we are, overnight, from a upper more than a year and a half on Bitcoinwhich came close to $46,000 this Tuesday, January 2, at a sort of panic fear this Wednesday, January 3, with a 10% drop in BTC prices. The king of cryptos has thus passed under $42,000 before returning to stabilize slightly above.
While the consensus was until now rather positive on an approval of the famous – and long awaited! – Bitcoin Spot ETF over there Securities and Exchange Commission (DRY), Matrixport analysts dampened the mood on January 3 by instead now forecasting a global rejection ETFs by Gary Gensler (president of the SEC). In any case, at least for this month January.
Faced with this risk of nth postponement of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, speculators were caught short, as we will see. And volatility on the prices of BTC and the crypto market are unlikely to calm down in the coming days.
$646 million liquidated on the crypto market
As data on the Coinglass website indicates, this is the berezina for speculators in the crypto futures market. In just 24 hours, there are almost $646 million of positions which have purely and simply been liquidated.
Obviously, these are mainly the positions Long (buyers) who were massively automatically cut off in the face of volatility and strong price movements. These are like this 578 million of dollars across the entire market which were liquidated among the (too) optimistic. More than 128 million dollars just from speculators on the rise of Bitcoin – and also 101 million dollars for Ethereum (ETH).
On the side of bears and sellers – the positions Shorts – we still note 68 million dollars of liquidations, surely due to the small surprise increase the day before, which saw BTC suddenly rise from 42,500 to almost 46,000 dollars.
You will have understood: it is the red alert on volatility prices of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies at the start of 2024. As long as the SEC has not officially commented on the approval (or not) of spot Bitcoin ETFs, the slightest rumors or opinions/predictions from analysts that flow a little can create large and unpredictable (and dangerous) movements of swell on the crypto-asset sector. Don’t go out in this raging sea of trading if you are not heavily armed and prepared!