As the price of Bitcoin (BTC) continues to rise, at least one group is surprised by the sudden rise. These are people who place highly leveraged short bets on futures, hoping to profit from the possibility of a price reversal.

According to data from CoinGlass, short traders betting on a fall in Bitcoin prices liquidated about $70 million (approximately 10.2 billion yen, equivalent to 146 yen per dollar) on December 4th, and only on the 5th. But it lost about $90 million (about 13.2 billion yen). These may be contributing to Bitcoin’s strength this week, which saw it jump from $39,000 to $44,000.

Liquidation refers to the forced closing of a trader’s leveraged position by an exchange due to the loss of some or all of the trader’s initial margin. This occurs when a trader is unable to meet the margin requirements for a leveraged position (does not have enough funds to continue trading).

Large liquidations can indicate local peaks or troughs in price movements, and traders can take positions accordingly.

Most of these liquidations occurred on crypto exchanges Binance, OKX, and Huobi, according to Coinglass data. Trading volume has surged 25% over the past week, with open interest increasing to $20.2 billion from $17.2 billion at the beginning of December.

Several factors appear to be driving Bitcoin’s growth. ETFs likely to be approved in the US, traders pricing in expected rate cuts in the US (driving risk-friendly bets on tech stocks, Bitcoin and other stocks), Bitcoin It could be adopted by a nation if a leader friendly to Coin takes command.

As reported, at least one group of traders200 million dollar (approximately 29.2 billion yen) BTC futures position, indicating high demand for exposure to Bitcoin. These moves coincide with continued updates and changes to spot ETF applications.

$BTC open interest on @BitMEX skyrocketed . +90% in a single day! pic.twitter.com/kKeBqeVQxV

— Coinalyze (@coinalyzetool) December 2, 2023

Some observers expect the price of Bitcoin to exceed $48,000 in the coming weeks.

“This uptick already started in the week beginning October 23rd, when BTC managed to overcome strong resistance around $30,000,” said Julius De, Senior Technical Analyst at StockCharts.com. Julius de Kempenaer shared this in a note to CoinDesk. “On the weekly chart, the next resistance is expected near $48,000, the peak set at the end of March 2022.”

“Overall, the trend for BTC is clearly up, with an initial target near $48,000 and support near $38,000,” he added.

｜Translation: CoinDesk JAPAN
｜Edited by: Toshihiko Inoue
｜Image: Shutterstock
｜Original: Bitcoin Surge Blasts $170M in Bearish Shorts as BTC Price Targets $48K