Long-term liquidation surged to more than $320 million today as Bitcoin and Ethereum stumbled.

Bitcoin BTC

-3.08%
It suffered a slight decline today, falling nearly 4% to $42,200 from a previous high of $43,800 in the early Asian session. Ethereum, along with most altcoins, fell nearly 5% to $2,230.

This recession resulted in the liquidation of a significant portion of long positions on centralized exchanges. More than $94 million in Bitcoin positions were liquidated due to volatility, most of which ($85 million) were long positions.

According to CoinGlass data, the overall cryptocurrency market recorded $320 million in long positions being liquidated, with various exchanges contributing a total of $360 million in liquidations.

In derivatives markets, liquidation occurs when a trader’s position is forced to close due to insufficient funds to cover losses. This situation occurs when market movements are adverse to the trader’s position and initial margin or collateral is depleted.

Will Sheehan, founder of data provider Parsec. famous DeFi liquidations also surged to around $2 million, and it was the first time in over a year that “retail is being leveraged on-chain,” it said.

Within the derivatives market, funding rates for Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies fell below +0.01% today. This is a decline from the +0.1%+ observed over the past few weeks, and suggests a decline in demand for leveraged buys, according to CoinGlass data.

Analysts remain positive on cryptocurrencies heading into 2024. Experts at investment management firm VanEck predict that Bitcoin will hit a new all-time high by the fourth quarter of next year. This optimism is driven by expectations of the upcoming Bitcoin halving event and the possible launch of a physical Bitcoin exchange-traded fund.

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