The price of bitcoin climbed back above the $63,500 mark during early-day trading on Wednesday, after a volatile 24 hours that saw the digital asset's price drop to a recent low of $69,900.
The value of the largest cryptocurrency by market cap increased over 1% in the past 24 hours, trading at $63,559 at 7:50 a.m. ET, according to The Block's Price Page.The price action over the past day led to substantial liquidations of both long and short positions on centralized exchanges. This volatility resulted in the liquidation of more than $150 million in bitcoin positions, with over $78 million bitcoin longs and over $72 million shorts liquidated, according to CoinGlass data.
The second-largest crypto, ether, experienced a muted 0.3% increase over the past day — now standing at $3,262 at 7:48 a.m. ET. However, SOL, the native coin of the Solana network remains in the red, falling over 2% in the same period, according to The Block’s Prices Page. The overall crypto market experienced over $275 million in liquidated long positions in the last 24 hours, contributing to a total of $428 million in liquidations across various centralized exchanges, the data show.
Liquidations occur when a trader’s position is forcibly closed due to a lack of funds to cover losses. This happens when market movements are unfavorable to the trader’s position, leading to the depletion of their initial margin or collateral.Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space.