2021 marks several firsts for the world’s largest cryptocurrency, and now, after weeks of limited price pullbacks, bitcoin has seen its first 10% retraction since breaching $20,000.
Bitcoin was on its way to $35,000 when it experienced a swift drawback to $30,000. Whether this is a long-term barrier or a short-term top is unclear. The amount of activity surrounding the alpha crypto indicates a lot more involvement than previous bull runs.
Bears and Bulls Getting REKT
Although it’s been overwhelmingly bullish for long-term bitcoin hodlers, this is the first time speculators have been notably punished in 2021.
According to Glassnode, a blockchain market research firm, $190 million in long positions were recently liquidated in just 10 minutes as bitcoin’s price dropped to $30,000.
A trader takes a long position in anticipation of a price rise in that asset. Many novice traders, however, open positions with excessive leverage and are at risk of being liquidated much sooner.
Glassnode reveals that this BTC liquidation was the largest in bitcoin history. Some bulls may have been liquidated, but bears opening positions under $30,000 have similarly been destroyed following the subsequent recovery.
Binance Sees Record Trading Volume
Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange globally by trading volume, was also swept up in the recent bitcoin volatility. Glassnode points out that $190 million in bitcoin long liquidations alone took place on the Binance exchange.
The firm also pointed out that this liquidation was the single-largest to date. This is perhaps not too surprising since bitcoin trading volume has exploded recently, increasing by over 100% in 24 hours recently.
The large volume took such a toll on the Binance exchange that some users were actually experiencing delays in certain regions. Changpeng Zhao, known more commonly as CZ, the billionaire founder of Binance, tweeted:
“Seeing heavy loads on market data queries. Delays in certain regions. System is scaling. Your understanding is much appreciated. Order placement works fine. Please trade with caution. ATH volumes.”
The last time bitcoin reached all-time highs in 2017, it quickly retreated over 20% to around $15-16,000. Some would argue this is the first real pullback in the current bull run, and so far, there has been only slightly over a 10% drop.
These factors and all-time high trading volumes suggest there are a lot more speculators coming to market than ever before.
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