Waller's Comments Fuel Bitcoin Surge to $80,000
Bitcoin rallied above $80,000 on Thursday, driven by comments from Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller that suggested the central bank might hold its benchmark interest rate steady. This sent short sellers scrambling, with over $415 million in shorts getting liquidated in the past 24 hours.
The catalyst for Bitcoin's surge was Waller's statement that he would be 'inclined to support' keeping rates at their current level if upcoming inflation data remains positive. The odds of a rate hike at the Fed's September meeting fell to 50.4%, down from 63.2% just a day earlier.
Traders took this as a sign that the Fed might not raise interest rates, which would reduce pressure on risk assets like stocks and cryptocurrencies. This led to a sharp reversal in market sentiment, with stocks also rising.
The liquidation cascade has been intense, with more than 119,000 traders getting force-closed in the past day alone. The majority of these liquidations came from short bets that were forced to buy back their positions as prices rose.