Traders who had bet on a decline in Bitcoin’s price have seen their positions liquidated as the asset’s price has subsequently risen again.
Bettors who predicted a decline in Bitcoin’s value have lost money as the asset’s value has recently rebounded.
Short positions in all cryptocurrencies have been liquidated for nearly $100 million in the past 24 hours, according to data from CoinGlass. The current tally is just over $99 million.
With short Bitcoin positions liquidating for nearly $36 million in just 24 hours, the majority of that amount was bet on the largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Almost $22 million worth of Bitcoin shorts have vanished in the last four hours.
Even long positions have lost money today, but short sellers have taken a bigger hit. Data from CoinGlass shows that in the last day, investors have sold off long positions in cryptocurrencies totaling nearly $44 million.
If a trader thinks an asset’s price will fall in the future, they hold a short position. When a trader’s short position is closed, it means they lost the bet. On the flip side, long positions involve wagers that an asset’s price will rise.
Bitcoin is now trading at $61,911 per coin, a 5% increase from the previous day, as reported by CoinGecko. On Friday morning, it crossed the $62,000 mark for a short period of time. At one point this week, the asset’s price fell below $57,000 per coin, continuing its recent downward trend.
Bitcoin hit a new all-time high of almost $74,000 in March, so that’s a significant drop. Its prior low point was $69,044, so this is even lower.
Since the Federal Reserve signaled this week that it was hesitant to cut interest rates, Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market have taken a beating.
Gold and bitcoin.
In the wake of US unemployment data, bitcoin price skyrockets over $61,000.
After the government’s employment report was released, Bitcoin jumped over $61,000 in the hour that followed. Data from CoinGecko shows that the price of Bitcoin is around $61,640 at the time of publication, which is up 5.2% on the day. The price of Bitcoin skyrocketed after this morning’s release of the U.S. government’s Nonfarm Payrolls report. The report predicted an unemployment rate of 3.9% for April, which was 0.1% higher than the 3.8% predicted. When unemployment is high, the Federal Reserve is more likely to contemplate cutting interest rates.
Bitcoin and other “risk-on” assets have lost appeal due to geopolitical factors such as the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which has caused money to flee the recently authorized spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Unemployment for April was higher than anticipated, according to today’s U.S. government Nonfarm Payrolls report.
Some cryptocurrency traders saw this as a bullish sign because a combination of factors, including high unemployment, increases the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will consider cutting interest rates, and lower rates make cryptocurrency more appealing to investors.