Global Crypto Markets, February 20, 2024 – Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) took center stage in a recent bout of market volatility, resulting in the liquidation of leveraged positions for over 54,000 traders. The total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies approached $2.1 trillion during this period.
CoinGlass reported that over $145 million was liquidated across various exchanges in a 24-hour span, with $91 million attributed to short positions as traders anticipated lower prices. Despite these expectations, the total cryptocurrency market cap witnessed a 1.2% rise, overturning downside bets.
The largest single liquidation order, valued at $4 million, occurred in a Bitcoin (BTC) position paired with USDT on Binance, the largest crypto exchange globally.
Traders collectively lost at least $70 million in both Bitcoin and Ethereum across long and short positions during this period of market turbulence.
Bitcoin and Ethereum, the top cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, experienced upward trends in the past week. BTC and ETH recorded gains of 3% and 11%, respectively, over the last seven days, reflecting bullish market sentiment.
Bitcoin’s recent rally, reaching $51,800 with a market cap exceeding $1 trillion, has been attributed to the approval of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on January 10. Additionally, anticipation surrounding the upcoming Bitcoin halving in April is contributing to the positive market sentiment.
Ethereum’s current momentum is fueled by the impending technological upgrade known as Dencun. Developers expect the modifications introduced by Dencun to enhance data availability for layer-2 rollups through a feature called “blob,” enabling these layers to include more data in each block. This development aims to reduce transaction costs and improve scalability. Dencun is scheduled to be implemented on Ethereum’s mainnet around mid-March after successful testing on testnets, including Goerli, Sepolia, and Holesky.
