Bitcoin Blasts Past $72K as Short Sellers Take a Hit
Bitcoin surged past $72,000 on Thursday afternoon after facing resistance at that mark earlier in the day. The cryptocurrency eventually broke through to a session high of $72,850, fueled by pro-crypto sentiment from a White House meeting and U.S. Treasury policy announcements.
The price increase lifted Bitcoin's 24-hour gain to 5.6% and boosted its market capitalization from $1.44 trillion to $1.45 trillion. Since Monday, August 17th, when it traded around $63,500, Bitcoin has added approximately $9,000 to its value, a 14% gain in just four days.
The surge also had a significant impact on short positions, with Coinglass data showing that $650 million in short bets were liquidated, compared to only $41 million in long bets. This marked the second consecutive day of substantial short position losses for Bitcoin.