Short Traders Get the Short End Of The Stick As Bitcoin Breaks $47,000

Bitcoin price has shattered $47,000 and has left in its wake the bloodbath that is short liquidations. These short traders that obviously expected the previous market trend of low momentum to continue have now incurred hundreds of millions of dollars in losses in the crypto market, and in a very short time too. The bloodbath has not eased up either since bitcoin is still firm in its recovery trend.

Bitcoin Traders Get Rekt

Bitcoin had been on a slow but steady recovery trend over the past week. However, the weekend would quickly put a stop to this slow trend as the digital asset had surged drastically on Sunday night. This trend continued into Monday, seeing the cryptocurrency break the $47,000 price level, setting a three-month high record for bitcoin.

Related Reading | Bitcoin Retakes Robust Position As Price Nears $45,000

This increase in price had seen short traders liquidated almost immediately. These traders who had millions in the market riding on bitcoin continue to fall would see themselves lose millions before the trading market open on Monday.

BTC liquidations reach $169 million | Source: Coinglass

As usual, bitcoin led the pack in terms of liquidation losses. The digital asset saw tens of millions of shorts liquidated in just a matter of minutes following the price surge. In total, there have been more than $60 million in shorts liquidated in the past 12 hours as of the time of writing. On the 24-hour scale, the numbers are even grimmer given that more than $169 million in liquidations have been recorded.

Liquidations Rock Crypto Market

On a broader scale, a lot of crypto traders have been burned in just the last 24 hours ago. Most notable was when the price of bitcoin had successfully broken past $45,000. This point is where bears mounted significant resistance and it was expected it will fall once again from this point like it has the past three months. But traders would bear the brunt of this given that over $100 million in BTC and ETH shorts were liquidated in a mere five minutes after this.

BTC surges past $47,000 | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

Data from Coinglass shows that over $187 worth of liquidations has been recorded in the crypto market in the last 12 hours. While more than $432 million in liquidations have happened in the last 24 hours. Naturally, Bitcoin and Ethereum make up the majority of these liquidations, almost rivaling each other.

Related Reading | Here’s Why ADA Could Replicate Ethereum’s 2017 bullish break-out 

It also shows that a total of 78,079 traders have been liquidated in this one-day period. While Bitmex saw the largest single liquidation order which was valued at $10 million.

Featured image from Futurity, charts from Coinglass and TradingView.com

Hedge Fund Holdings Fail To Prop Up Bitcoin Price

Bitcoin’s price is at risk of going down because investors are funding short positions in Bitcoin by borrowing digital money from exchanges. Datamish shows that investors are funding short, causing the value of Bitcoin to go down.

Bitcoin fell again on Friday, despite a surge in capital inflow from large wallet investors and institutions. Brevan Howard Asset Management LLP and Tudor Investment Corp refreshed their bitcoin holdings by adding more of the cryptocurrency to their portfolios.

Related Reading | Bitcoin Outflows Spike As 30k BTC Exits Exchanges, Reserve Plunges Down

The growing geopolitical tension and the increasingly tense crisis in Russian-Ukraine are negatively impacting investor risk appetites for both equities as well crypto. This has fueled a bearish narrative surrounding Bitcoin’s price, which plunged below $40,000 with no signs of letting up.

Cryptocurrencies are not without their risks, and it seems that even large investors know this. On March 11th of 2022, survey data from Datamish showed 1,500 Bitcoin being lent out as short positions to finance those risks- a total debt amounting close enough for a 3,603 BTC loan. Following an increase in funding for short positions, there have usually been negative consequences such as price drops.

Analysts have been monitoring the recent changes in Bitcoin price, predicting that it will continue to fall. They believe there is still a significant risk for an upcoming decline, even after its recent recovery.

The Bitcoin price recovery is attributed to the first bearish Ichimoku breakout since December 4, 2021. Analysts believe Bitcoin price has formed a bottom in the $38,000 -$38500 range. This is an important confirmation zone for trading on bitcoin. This may signal more losses for investors who have been selling assets in anticipation of an upcoming crash.

Bitcoin is trading in its bottom range | Source: BTC/USD chat from Tradingview.com
According To Reuters, Russians Flooded The UAE With Liquidation Requests

In a Russia- drowning attempt to save their fortune, company executives and financial sources told Reuters that many Russians flooded the UAE’s cryptocurrency firms with liquidation requests.

That’s not all they want to do. Some of these investors are looking for real estate in the UAE. While others plan to convert it into fiat and hide their money somewhere else – insiders reported.

Related Reading | Bitcoin Exchange Withdrawals Suggests Whales Are Accumulating

The Swiss financial industry is currently in chaos. In fact, brokers requested the withdrawal of billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin. The request came from their clients concerned that Switzerland might freeze all funds. One representative claims they have received requests for up to $2B. 

The UAE has been a neutral ground for Russians and Belarusians who have come to Dubai with their money to avoid being left out during any wars that may break out. There’s even been talk of people bringing cryptocurrencies here because they know it will always stay safe no matter what side wins.

According to sources in the UAE, many Russians purchase real estate with cryptocurrency. They’re using digital forms of money both ways – bringing their resources into Dubai while getting them out from other regions.

Featured image from Pixabay, chart from Tradingview.com