Crypto▲ Bullish
Bitcoin surge to $71,396 wipes $3B in crypto shorts
Short sellers lost $3B in 24 hours. Bitcoin hit $71,396; market cap rose $280B. With shorts cleared, leverage may rebuild on the long side.
Continue with
Short sellers took the heaviest losses in crypto since 2021 after a breakout that tore through a six-week trading range. Roughly $3 billion in short positions were liquidated over 24 hours on Aug. 19-20. Long liquidations came to about $264 million, according to data from Coinglass. At one point, more than $1 billion in shorts were wiped out in a single hour.
Bitcoin peaked at $71,396.50, up about 8% on the day and its highest level since early June. The move added roughly $280 billion to total crypto market capitalization.