Ether Drives Crypto Rebound Amid Fresh Liquidations
Crypto prices surged on Friday, driven by fresh liquidations of bearish bets, particularly on Ether. This sudden rebound follows a trend seen in August, where a surge in Bitcoin led to the largest wave of short liquidations on record since 2021.
Ether jumped as much as 8.3% - its biggest intraday increase since three weeks ago - while Bitcoin increased by less than 4%. However, both tokens have pulled back from their highs.
The recent market move suggests prices are being driven more by speculation than actual demand, with traders largely staying on the sidelines due to a lack of clear catalysts following the forced deleveraging. Lacie Zhang, a research analyst at Bitget Wallet, noted that the recent range-bound trading 'looks like consolidation with fading short-term momentum rather than a confirmed structural breakdown.'
Over $300 million in short positions for Ether has been liquidated over the last 24 hours, while about $212 million in bearish bets on Bitcoin were wiped out during the same period. According to Coinglass data, this is bucking the trend where Bitcoin typically sees the most leverage washouts.