In the midst of the tranquil seas of the lowest volatility periods for prominent cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether, the crypto markets experienced a tempest in the past two days. This was marked by Bitcoin plunging to just under $28,500 late last Wednesday – a significant drop in the course of two days unseen since mid-June. This wave of financial downfall didn’t merely affect Bitcoin, but it also brought big liquid players like Ether, XRP and Solana alongside, each falling by almost 5%.
Cracks began appearing in the realm of futures trading, with precipitous losses making a splash across the market. In fact, liquidations on futures which spanned major tokens surged past the $160 million mark in the last 24 hours, marking a total of over $320 million in losses since the start of this week. This surge was led by Bitcoin futures, which amassed nearly $50 million in losses, shadowed by losses from Ether at $22 million and Litecoin making up for $5 million worth of losses.
Traders of Bitcoin Cash, Solana, and XRP bore nearly $4.5 million in losses each. An item of note here is that long trades, or wagers on higher prices, made up almost 90% of the total liquidations, according to Coinglass data. This allusion to liquidations elicits attention for those less familiar with the intricate world of trading; it’s a process where exchanges forcibly close a trader’s leveraged position due to either a total or partial loss of the trader’s initial margin. If a trader fails to meet the margin requirements for a leveraged position or doesn’t have adequate funds to keep the trade afloat, liquidation kicks in.
Oftentimes, large liquidations signpost the local top or bottom of a price move. This could be a vital signal for traders to align their positions accordingly. Contrary to the slew of liquidations and plunging prices, the number of unsettled contracts, known as open interest, in fact climbed 1.16%. This indicates that while traded opened more positions, they wielded significantly less leverage – pointing to a lesser risk-on sentiment.
Expectedly, trade forecasts anticipate a subdued market momentum. Trading firm QCP Capital predicts prices will subside gradually in the immediate absence of market catalysts. Projections of bitcoin price levels fluctuating between $24,000 to $26,000 are to be expected in the approaching months, claims the trading firm. As the crypto markets weather this storm, it remains to be seen if these speculations prove to be the calm after the storm.
Source: Coindesk
