Liquidations Flip the Script on Derivatives
On Thursday, bitcoin logged further marginal gains, briefly breaching the $62,000 threshold and widening the gap from a year-to-date low of $57,735 recorded some 48 hours earlier. Market data showed bitcoin largely held above the $60,000 mark since erasing earlier losses, and by Wednesday evening, it offered the first hint that buyers were piling in after testing the $61,000 threshold.
Although bitcoin slipped below $60,000 a few hours later, it quickly recovered to momentarily breach the $61,000 mark again. At around 3:55 a.m. EST, the top cryptocurrency launched a rally that peaked at a daily high of $62,137. Despite later retreating to around $61,600 by 1:36 p.m. EST, it remained up 3% over the 24-hour period—marking a bright start to July.
Consequently, bitcoin’s market capitalization jumped from over $1.2 trillion to nearly $1.24 trillion, helping lift the aggregate crypto economy to $2.2 trillion. This ascent flipped the script on the derivatives market, where liquidated short bets surpassed wiped-out long positions.
According to Coinglass data, approximately $130 million in short bitcoin positions were wiped out in a 24-hour window, compared with $50 million in long bets. Overall, the crypto economy saw over $606 million in leveraged positions liquidated, with short bets accounting for nearly $400 million of the total.
Although some analysts expect further downside, data showing a whale-accumulation spike of 270,000 Bitcoins at roughly $59,000 challenges that view. Crypto analyst Scott Melker noted that such heavy buying points to a definitive market bottom.
“270,000 Bitcoin accumulated by whales at $59,000. The largest single accumulation spike ever recorded on-chain. Bigger than the COVID bottom. Bigger than the FTX bottom,” Melker said.
Melker acknowledged that spot bitcoin ETFs suffered a dismal June with $4.5 billion in net outflows. However, he argued that whales who took profits above $120,000 are now aggressively rebuying—a pattern that historically signals a market floor.
“This is something we tend to see at the bottom of markets and not at the top,” he added.
Still, other market commentators urge caution, noting that macroeconomic factors and systemic distrust could still weigh heavily on the market. Highlighting this more cautious outlook, crypto analyst Aralez projected that a worsening global environment and a downturn in the broader equities market—specifically the S&P 500—could trigger a wave of panic, keeping sentiment firmly negative and potentially creating deeper volatility before a true recovery cycle takes root.
