Bitcoin and Ethereum Explode, Wrecking Over $250M in Shorts in an Hour

ETH has soared hard, hitting its highest level since January.

The cryptocurrency market is on the move again on Friday, but this time in the right direction. Just an hour or so after the US CPI data came out, which initially pushed all assets south, BTC has exploded out of the gate, surging to almost $80,000.

Ethereum has stolen the show, posting a massive 8% surge on a daily scale (and over 5% in the last hour alone). Just minutes ago, ETH topped $2,660 for the first time since late January, before it was stopped and pushed south slightly.

A lot can change in the cryptocurrency markets very quickly, sometimes in just an hour or so. Recall that less than two hours ago, the overall market structure was quite bearish, with experts anticipating the last nail in the Fed’s rate coffin – the US CPI data.

BTC and the entire crypto market were already feeling the pressure, and once the numbers were released, which actually expectations almost perfectly, bitcoin slipped from over $77,000 to a weekly low of $76,000.

That’s where the landscape changed, and the primary digital asset rebounded swiftly. It first climbed to its starting point before it jumped to $78,000 and then to almost $79,000 minutes ago, bringing the rest of the market with it. ETH, as mentioned above, is among the biggest beneficiaries.

Naturally, such rapid and intense market moves led to a sharp uptick in the value of wracked positions. Data from CoinGlass over the past hour alone shows that over $250 million in shorts were liquidated, and over half of that amount was in ETH.

About the author

Jordan got into crypto in 2016 by trading and investing. He began writing about blockchain technology in 2017 and now serves as CryptoPotato's Assistant Editor-in-Chief. He has managed numerous crypto-related projects and is passionate about all things blockchain.