Bitcoin
Ethereum and Solana Hit Key Levels as Bitcoin Soars
Bitcoin jumped above $66,000, reaching its highest level since mid-June, when prices were above $67,000.
The price of Bitcoin (BTC) is currently up 4.7% over the past 24 hours, with buyers hovering around $66,670. Meanwhile, Ethereum (ETH) rose above $3,500 and Solana (SUN) is trading above $170 – up 3% and 8% respectively.
Other altcoins are also trading positively, with BNB (BNB) up 4.9%, Dogecoin (DOGE) up 4.5% and Cardano (ADA) up 3%.
Bitcoin surges amid global IT shutdown
Bitcoin’s price surge comes amid ongoing discussions about the potential inclusion of the benchmark cryptocurrency as a strategic national reserve for the US.
The key to Bitcoin’s surge to intraday highs above $66,800 was the chaos that accompanied a major IT outage on Friday, with airlines grounded and banks, media and other global businesses at a standstill.
The outage occurred after a software update by cybersecurity giant CrowdStrike.
As widespread cyber outages highlighted Bitcoin’s strengths, the market seemed to be taking cues for a fresh recovery. The space also witnessed a massive surge in spot ETF volume.
Shorts Feel Pain as Bitcoin Price Rises
Meanwhile, the surge in prices has obliterated shorts. The last hour at 2:24 p.m. ET on Friday, for example, saw more than $6 million worth of BTC shorts liquidated — compared to just $79,700 worth of long positions.
The data shows liquidations In the past four hours, bearish bitcoin bets worth more than $12 million were liquidated, compared with about $1.6 million in long positions.
In the broader market, more than $30 million worth of short positions were liquidated in the past four hours. This outpaces long liquidations by a wide margin, as only $5.3 million worth of long positions were liquidated in this period.
On Thursday, Santiment analysts had observed a surge in short positions in the bitcoin market as the price of BTC hovered below $63,000. Liquidations increased as the price of BTC rose above $66,800.