Bitcoin Surges Past $72k, Wipes Out Over $3 Billion in Shorts
Bitcoin's price has surged to its highest level since June 2, hitting an intraday high of $72,408 before easing to $71,423. This marks a 3.07% increase on the day and brings the total gains since Monday to around 15%. The rally has also triggered a massive liquidation of short positions, with over $3 billion in shorts being liquidated across crypto in the past two days.
The short squeeze is attributed to the sudden rise in price, which has forced exchanges to close trades that are no longer covered by collateral. This process has led to a feedback loop, where each forced buyback pushes the price higher and trips the next layer of shorts. The Treasury's announcement of increased bond buybacks, which loosened financial conditions, is seen as one catalyst for Bitcoin's big move.
Myriad, the prediction market run by Decrypt's parent company, had traders betting on a dump to $55,000 just a day earlier, but the odds have since collapsed to almost 50-50. The death cross, a pattern that forms when the 50-day exponential moving average falls below the 200-day EMA, has also been put to the test. While Bitcoin still hasn't closed decisively above both lines, the chart remains unchanged.