Crypto traders see $786 million in liquidations as Fed hike speculation eases

Traders going long and short on bitcoin, ether, and other cryptocurrencies were hit by over $786 million in liquidations on Thursday.

The liquidations came as crypto prices shot up in line with broader financial markets. Bitcoin hurtled past $20,000 for the first time since Oct. 6. Crypto stocks were also buoyed, as Coinbase shares climbed over 12%.

Crypto traders suffered $686 million in short liquidations on Tuesday, according to The Block’s Data Dashboard. Markets hadn’t seen short liquidations totaling over $200 million since Sept. 9, when $287 million in shorts were liquidated. 

Bitcoin accounted for $328 million of the $686 million in short liquidations yesterday — roughly 47% — according to The Block’s data.

Traders going long on crypto also took a hit, with $99 million in long liquidations happening on Tuesday — bringing the total combined liquidations, both long and short, to around $786 million. 

A drop in the DXY dollar index could be another reason for bitcoin’s positive price movements, according to Noelle Acheson, former head of market insights at Genesis and author of “Crypto is Macro Now.” Bitcoin’s negative correlation to movements in the U.S. dollar seemingly proved beneficial to crypto markets. 

DXY chart by TradingView

Acheson also noted expectations that continued aggressive rate hikes from the U.S. Federal Reserve have been tempered recently — reflected by the CME’s FedWatch tool. 

Source: CME Group

Markets are now more confident the Fed will increase rates by 50 basis points at its December meeting, rather than persisting with 75 basis points. 

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