Bitcoin price briefly rose above $63,000 in early trading on February 29 before falling back to the mid-$62,000 range. The price volatility led to a significant increase in the liquidation of Bitcoin positions in the futures market. At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $62,590, up 0.31% over the last 24 hours.
Increase in Bitcoin Volatility Observed
The recent price increase led to a substantial liquidation of short positions on central exchanges. According to CoinGlass data, this volatility resulted in the liquidation of over $273 million in Bitcoin positions, including a majority of $169.50 million in short positions.
During this period, Solana saw a 16% increase, and Ethereum achieved 4% daily gains. Data indicates that over $388 million in short positions were liquidated in the general crypto market in the last 24 hours, contributing to a total of $751.33 million in liquidations across various central exchanges.
Liquidations occur when an investor’s position is automatically closed due to insufficient funds to cover the losses. This situation arises when market movements are unfavorable for the investor’s position, leading to the depletion of the initial margin or collateral.
Analysts Offer Noteworthy Comments on Bitcoin
Bitfinex analysts have updated their price predictions for Bitcoin, estimating that the largest crypto asset could reach a level between $100,000 and $120,000 by the fourth quarter of 2024. Bitfinex analysts made the following statement:
“Our analysis predicts that a serious price target of $100,000 to $120,000 will be reached by the fourth quarter of 2024, and that the total crypto market value will hit a cycle peak sometime in 2025.”
Analysts described the introduction of multiple spot Bitcoin ETFs in January as bringing “passive demand” for Bitcoin and commented on this topic:
“Demand is coming largely from investors who perceive Bitcoin as a store of value rather than a volatile asset to be traded, which has been the case for several years before the launch of ETF funds.”
The GM 30 Index, representing the top 30 cryptocurrencies, rose 5.69% to 133.15 in the last 24 hours.
