Bitcoin’s Break Above $112K Triggers Largest Liquidation Since May, Bears Lose $470M

While Bitcoin’s price hit a new all-time high, the overall cryptocurrency market continued to lag behind its record high of $3.73 trillion seen in December last year.

Bitcoin’s (BTC) surprise surge to a new record above $112,000 triggered widespread liquidations among retail traders. 

Data from Coinglass shows that over 114,000 traders were wiped out, with total losses exceeding $540 million, more than $470 million of which came from short positions – leveraged bets that the market would go lower. Only $70 million came from long positions.

Bitcoin’s price had pared some off its gains on Thursday morning, but was still trading above $111,000 and holding onto gains of more than 2% over the last 24 hours. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the apex cryptocurrency moved upward into ‘bullish’ territory from ‘neutral’ a day ago, and chatter hit ‘high’ levels.

Bitcoin’s upswing also led to a rally in other major tokens. Ethereum (ETH) gained 6.2% in the last 24 hours, with its price crossing $2,780. Ripple’s native token XRP (XRP) gained 3.7%, while Solana (SOL) was up 2.7% and Cardano (ADA) climbed 4.6%. 

Tron (TRX) lagged behind its peers with a gain of just 1% in the last 24 hours. 

Despite the uptick in major tokens, the overall cryptocurrency market continued to lag its $3.73 trillion all-time high seen in December last year.

Meanwhile, the U.S equity markets seem set for a weak opening on Thursday. Crypto-linked stocks like Michael Saylor-backed Strategy (MSTR) and Riot Platforms (RIOT) were trading in the red during pre-market hours despite Bitcoin’s rally. Even Marathon Digital (MARA) was only 0.4% higher. 

Bitcoin bulls anticipate further gains for the leading cryptocurrency. 10x Research head Markus Thielen noted that many traders remain underexposed after the recent option expiry. “We remain constructive, especially as many traders appear underpositioned following last month’s option expiry, which led to significant exposure roll-off,” Thielen told Cointelegraph, adding that Bitcoin could climb to $133,000 in September.

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