Major cryptocurrencies saw significant gains of over 10% on Tuesday, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin, the king of crypto, saw a massive 17% increase in value, soaring past $26,000 and reaching $26,400 before settling around $26,000 at the time of writing. Ethereum also experienced a notable boost, recording a 13% increase to $1,750. Other cryptocurrencies, including OKB, LTC, SOL, DOT, and BNB, also experienced gains ranging from 5% to 25%.
However, the excitement was dampened by the news that nearly 300 million in cryptocurrency had been liquidated in the past 24 hours as the market seems to be experiencing major gains across the entire sector, according to data by Coinglass. The liquidations for BTC and ETH alone amounted to $157 million and $79 million, respectively, as the market continued to rocket upwards, benefiting from short liquidations from last week.
Short positions accounted for the vast majority of the $243 million worth of cryptocurrency liquidations that occurred in the past 24 hours, with 83.01% of liquidations being shorts. Binance, the world’s largest exchange by reported trading volumes, had the highest number of liquidations at $100.76 million, of which 76.85% were shorts. OKX followed closely behind with the second-highest number of liquidations at $77.85 million, with 88.39% being shorts.
Lookonchain reported that just hours prior to the CPI announcement, the GMX whale (@Rewkang) raised their BTC long positions. At present, they have an average entry price of $23,608 and have earned a profit of $2.5 million.
2 hours before the #CPI announcement, the GMX whale(@Rewkang) increased their long positions of BTC.
Currently, his average entry price is $23,608, and the profit is $2.5M.https://t.co/M7t9jcxzYB pic.twitter.com/oqL5CsZGqS
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) March 14, 2023
The rise in cryptocurrency prices appears to have been influenced by the news of inflation rising in February. According to a report by the Labor Department, the consumer price index (CPI) increased by 0.4% in February, bringing the annual inflation rate to 6%, matching the Dow Jones estimates. Excluding food and energy prices, the core CPI increased by 0.5% in February and 5.5% over the last 12 months.
The release of this news had an impact on other markets too. Prior to the release, markets had widely expected the Fed to approve another 0.25 percentage point increase to its benchmark federal funds rate. However, following the CPI report, traders are now pricing in an 85% chance that the Fed will increase the rate by a quarter point, according to a CME Group estimate. Stocks rose following the release, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up by more than 300 points in early trading. Treasury yields also rebounded solidly, pushing the policy-sensitive 2-year note up 30 basis points to 4.33%.
The crypto community sentiment indicator, the Crypto Fear and Greed Index, shows that market participants are now in “Greed” mode after some bad news about crypto banks caused the price to plummet.
However, the Fed’s positive news regarding inflation seems to have buoyed investor confidence, causing the price of Bitcoin to soar back above the $26,000 mark once again. This sharp and rapid price increase may lead many investors to think that the bull market has returned.
AZCoin News reported that Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, expressed optimism regarding the cryptocurrency market’s future. He stated that the recent turbulence caused by the SVB liquidation and USDC’s depegging may have caused some instability, but the market is now on the cusp of entering a bull mode. Despite the ongoing volatility, Hayes believes that a significant price correction in the cryptocurrency market could lead to a sustained period of bullishness.
Read more:
- Breaking: Bitcoin Surges Past $26,000 As US CPI Reveals Annual Inflation Rate Of 6% In February
- Fed’s Decreased Likelihood Of Rate Hike May Affect Cryptocurrency Market In The Next Week