Bitcoin Breaks Above $30,000, Wipes Out $100mln Short Positions

Bitcoin (BTC) broke above the psychological level of $30,000 to hit a new high of $31,356. While the news is elating for Bitcoin bulls, it has spelled bad news for short sellers who never expected Bitcoin to break above $30,000.

Data provided by Cointelegraph Markets, TradingView and Cryptometer affirmed that BTC/USD continues to rise even at the time of writing this article and on its way upwards $100 million of short positions have been liquidated.

Against the backdrop of high volatility, Bitcoin broke above $30,000 multiple times on New Year’s Day, eventually staying above the psychological level. The initiative was fueled by a rise in momentum that pushed the crypto further higher.

Even though several crypto enthusiasts lauded, many traders lost heavily in matter of few minutes.

A bot monitoring dilution of trades on derivatives behemoth BitMEX summed up as follows in the following tweet:

“I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!”

Figures indicate that short sellers lost around $10 million on BitMEX exchange alone, a stark reminder of how dangerous Bitcoin can turn out in case of wrong assessment. In the meanwhile, altcoin are seeing portfolio churn out. Dogecoin (DOGE), a well-tracked meme crypto, rallied 42% in a day, while altcoin driver Ether (ETH) skyrocketed above $750.

Notably, Cointelegraph Markets analyst Michaël van de Poppe trusts that the month will pave way for the beginning of a wider “alt season.”

When Bitcoin hit $30,000, he tweeted:

“The higher this impulse wave goes for #Bitcoin , the higher the next one will be as well. 2021 is going to be fire.”