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Bitcoin Brief Bounce Back Above $67,000: Triggers Nearly $300 Million In Total Liquidations

The crypto market has recently experienced a wave of liquidations, amounting to nearly $300 million, closely following Bitcoin’s sharp reclaim of the $67,000 mark.

This surge in Bitcoin’s value, a stark reversal from its previous downtrend, caught many traders off guard, especially those who had placed bets on the continuation of the market’s decline.

Over 80,000 Traders Faces Liquidation

The data provided by Coinglass sheds light on the magnitude of the liquidations, revealing that approximately 86,047 traders suffered losses exceeding $250 million within a mere 24-hour period.

Major exchanges like Binance, OKX, Bybit, and Huobi were the arenas for these significant financial setbacks, with Binance traders bearing the brunt of the liquidations.

Particularly, Binance recorded $128.7 million in liquidations, while other major platforms such as OKX, Bybit, and Huobi also experienced significant liquidations, amounting to $99.87 million, $33.18 million, and $17.70 million, respectively. Meanwhile, despite also facing liquidations, the smaller exchanges had a comparatively minor impact.

Most affected positions were short trades, reflecting a widespread anticipation of a market downturn that did not materialize as expected. Short positions recorded an estimated 57.55% of the liquidations, equivalent to $164.10 million, from traders betting against the market.

On the flip side, long position holders also faced their share of losses, contributing to nearly 40% of the total liquidations, amounting to $121.07 million. 

Crypto market liquidations heatmap.

Bitcoin Recovery And Future Prospects

The sharp recovery of Bitcoin, momentarily reclaiming highs above $67,000, has reignited interest in its market behavior and future trajectory.

Bitcoin price chart on TradingView

Despite a 6.6% dip in its market capitalization over the past week, Bitcoin’s value saw a notable 6% increase in the last 24 hours, with its market cap presently sitting above $140 billion. This resurgence in trading activity, with daily volumes climbing from below $60 billion to heights above this mark, signifies renewed investor confidence and heightened trading interest.

Adding to the discourse, cryptocurrency analyst Willy Woo presents an optimistic outlook for Bitcoin, suggesting the possibility of a “double pump” cycle reminiscent of the market patterns observed in 2013.

According to Woo, this pattern could herald two significant price surges for Bitcoin in the coming years, with the first peak anticipated by mid-2024 and a subsequent, more substantial rise in 2025.

While such dual surge scenarios are rare, Woo’s analysis, based on current market conditions and Bitcoin’s growth potential, offers a glimpse into the future of the world’s leading cryptocurrency.

Featured image from Unsplash, Chart from TradingView

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Inside Job Suspected As Huobi Wallet Falls Victim To $263,000 Exploit

According to multiple reports, iToken, formerly known as Huobi Wallet, fell victim to a crypto heist in the last week, leading to the loss of $263,000 worth of users’ assets. The incident draws much attention following recent police investigations into some of Huobi’s former staff.

$263,000 Drained From Huobi Wallet – Could There Be An Internal Involvement?

Providing more insight on this latest exploit, prominent security firm Peckshield reported that this event occurred on October 3, with the drainer stealing a total of $263,000 USDT and 92 TRX minted on the Tron network.

Thereafter, the bad actor proceeded to swap these stolen funds for approximately 2.9 million TRX, of which 1.4 million TRX was transferred to the ChangeNOW exchange, and 1.5 million TRX was moved to Binance. 

Currently, there are speculations that this heist was orchestrated by the internal staff of Huobi as such development would be unprecedented. In September, the Chinese Police were reported to have arrested a former Huobi team member for implanting a Trojan horse virus that resulted in the exposure of the private keys and mnemonic phrases of some iToken users.

Launched in 2018, iToken functions as a professional DeFi wallet, which enables the storage of various digital assets across multiple networks. It was initially known as the Huobi wallet, as earlier stated, but was rebranded iToken in 2022, following a $200 million investment from the Huobi Group.

Growing Controversy Around Huobi? 

In addition to speculations of insider involvement in this recent heist, Huobi, now rebranded as HTX, has been in the news recently and not for positive reasons.

On September 25, the exchange fell victim to a hack that drained 5,000 ETH worth $7.9 million. However, the exchange’s advisor and Tron founder, Justin Sun, soon came out to assure users of total asset recovery and security of the exchange’s operation. 

However, this week, crypto expert Dylan LeClair wrote a thread on X accusing the Tron Visioneer of creating a “web of deception.” This marks the second time in recent weeks Justin Sun has been accused of malicious dealings involving users’ assets on Huobi.

According to LeClair, ever since Sun acquired a controlling stake in Huobi in late 2022, the amount of USDT held on the exchange has been gradually replaced by stUSDT, a receipt token for staking USDT.

The stUSDT token is controlled by Justin Sun and is supposedly designed to invest in real-world assets such as US government bonds. However, LeClair stated that on-chain analysis and transactions show no such investment. 

The crypto analyst also drew attention to “worrying” transactions by Justin Sun involving JustLend, a Tron-based DeFi lending platform,  and other stablecoins, including USDT and USDC, before concluding that the Tron Founder is maliciously moving USD liquidity out of the crypto space. 

At the time of writing, HTX’s native token, HT, hovers around $2.36 with a 0.74% gain in the last day, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Meanwhile, HT’s daily trading volume is up by 10.64% and is valued at $3.47 million

Huobi