• Bitcoin’s price rise has shaken up leveraged bearish bets.
• Analysts say Bitcoin is poised to enter a new bull market and rise ahead of the impending halving of mining rewards.

Leveraged short bets on Bitcoin (BTC) lost more than $150 million (approximately 22.5 billion yen, equivalent to 150 yen = 1 dollar) in the past 24 hours. BTC price rose 10%, the biggest single-day increase since October, raising hopes for a new bull market.

BTC temporarily exceeded the $57,000 mark on February 27th, due to multiple catalysts such as increased trading volume of Bitcoin exchange traded funds (ETFs) and buying by institutional investors, and the price reached the $57,000 level in November 2021. It hit its highest price since March.

Short liquidations may be contributing to Bitcoin’s rally this week. Short bets have lost more than $180 million since Sunday, according to data from Coinglass. Still, open interest jumped from $48 billion to nearly $54 billion, indicating an increase in bullish bets as traders anticipated volatility. .

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 signal steep price movement peaks or troughs, allowing traders to take positions accordingly.

The rapid rise in Bitcoin prices has boosted the entire crypto asset market. Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and Cardano (ADA) are up 8% in the past 24 hours, while Stax (STX), Bitcoin’s layer 2 token, has soared over 25%.

Market observers said Bitcoin is firmly in a “new bull market” and could see a significant rally as the expected halving event in April approaches.

“Bitcoin’s definitive rally effectively signals the beginning of a new bull market,” Alex Adelman, CEO of bitcoin redemption app Lolli, said in an email to CoinDesk. . “The big price move was driven by very positive market sentiment and sustained inflows into Bitcoin ETFs, which rose today to a new daily high.”

“With just over a month left until the Bitcoin halving, which historically causes price increases, there is a tremendous upside ahead for Bitcoin,” Adelman added.

Halving is a program to reduce inflationary pressures on Bitcoin by halving the reward for successfully mining a Bitcoin block. This makes it harder to obtain and mine new Bitcoins, which has historically led to bull markets.

｜Translation: CoinDesk JAPAN
｜Edited by: Toshihiko Inoue
｜Image: Shutterstock
｜Original text: Bitcoin Shorts Lose $150M as BTC Poised for ‘Tremendous Upside’