• Bitcoin’s price broke the $30,000 mark and experienced a rally.
• Short traders suffered losses of over $178 million.
• Bitcoin options contracts worth $3.3 billion were exchanged in one single day.
Bitcoin Breaks Above $30K
Bitcoin’s price has been on an upward trajectory since last week after BlackRock applied to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). On Thursday, the cryptocurrency extended its rally after crossing the $30,000 mark for the second time this year.
Short Traders Suffer Biggest Losses Since April
Short traders took on the biggest single-day losses since April as over $178 million worth of bets against crypto tokens were liquidated in the past 24 hours, CoinGlass data shows. The total liquidations – including longs and shorts – exceeded $203 million, with bitcoin (BTC) futures racking up $75 million in losses followed by ether (ETH) futures at $51 million. Crypto exchange Binance recorded the most losses among its counterparts at $65 million.
$3 Billion Bitcoin Options Contracts Exchanged In One Day
Separately, bitcoin options contracts worth $3.3 billion changed hands Wednesday across major exchanges including Deribit, recording the highest single-day notional volume in three months. Liquidation refers to when an exchange forcefully closes a trader’s leveraged position due to a partial or total loss of the trader’s initial margin if they fail to have sufficient funds to keep their trade open.
Investment Optimism For Bitcoin
The surge in activity signals investor optimism for bitcoin as both a store of value and investment opportunity with some investors noting that it could be seen as a shift towards bitcoin as a strong store of value rather than simply speculation about future prices or gains from trading activities alone.
Risks Remain Despite Price Increase
Despite these bullish signs however, risks remain when investing in cryptocurrencies such as volatility and potential security issues which may arise from holding large amounts of digital assets online or through third parties who may suffer hacks or other malicious attacks targeting customer funds held with them respectively .