Bitcoin Rebounds to $69K, Triggers $400M Short Liquidations

• The short squeeze came against a backdrop of a wider market recovery, with traders who had bet against crypto prices since the 30-day fall.
• Among the wider top 10 coins by market cap, Ethereum and Solana posted the biggest percentage gains. 

Bitcoin has rebounded toward $69,000 on February 25 for the first time in more than a week, trading after going as high as $69,869 after going as low as $63,000 on February 24. The rebound shows a gain of over 7% on the day; however, Bitcoin remains down more than 21% over the past 30 days. 

The price recovery acted as a threshold to the wave of liquidations over the derivatives market. Over $400 million in short positions were drained in the 24-hour period, accounting for the majority of the $463 million in total liquidations listed in that span, according to CoinGlass data. 

Liquidations initiated by Bitcoin with around $200 million in shorts forced out, after which  Ethereum stood at $153 million. Solana was placed third with around $22 million in short liquidations. Ethereum surged around 12% on the day to a latest price of $2,075, while Solana plunged around 14% to just below $89. 

Among the wider top 10 coins by market cap, Ethereum and Solana posted the biggest percentage gains. 

The Double-Digit Gains 

Other double-digit movers over the 24-hour period comprised Polkadot (DOT), Filecoin (FIL), Uniswap (UNI), Aptos (APT), Avalanche (AVAX) and Chainlink (LINK), with the total crypto market gaining around 6.6% in 24 hours. 

Crypto-associated equities also increased on Feb 25 as risk appetite got better. USDC stablecoin issuer Circle rose 29% to $79 per share after an earnings report. Blockchain lender Figure accumulated 15% to $34 per share, and Ethereum treasury company BitMine Immersion Technologies surged around 14% to $22. 

Coinbase progressed 13% to $183 per share, and Bitcoin treasury company Strategy generated around 9% to above $135 per share. Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings generated 7% to $8.66. 

The short squeeze came against a backdrop of a wider market recovery, with traders who had bet against crypto prices since the 30-day fall facing forced exits as prices moved against their positions. 

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