Surprise crypto rally liquidates $639M in short positions
Rally sparks mass liquidations and renewed bullish momentum
Wednesday’s crypto market rally caught many traders off guard, especially those betting on a decline in major digital assets. According to Coinglass data, over 168,683 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours, with a total of approximately $639 million lost.
Since the beginning of the week, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have seen consistent inflows, reaching $936 million on April 22, according to SoSoValue — the highest single-day inflow since Donald Trump assumed office earlier this year.
Macroeconomic sentiment also favored Bitcoin’s rise. President Trump adopted a more conciliatory stance toward China, stating that tariffs would be “significantly” reduced. This shift boosted risk appetite across markets and triggered a bullish response in the crypto sector.
Caught off guard by a turnaround
At the time of writing, Bitcoin surged 5.6% in 24 hours, trading above $93,525 for the first time in seven weeks. The global crypto market cap jumped 5.7% to $2.93 trillion.
All top-10 cryptocurrencies except TRX rose, with ETH up more than 10%, XRP and SOL around 8%, BNB under 1%, DOGE 11%, and ADA 9%.
Short traders suffered, with Coinglass reporting $639 million in liquidations — about half from BTC ($319 million) and a third from ETH ($110 million), with the rest coming from SOL, SUI, DOGE, and others.
Heatmap of Liquidations in 24 Hours. Source: Coinglass
The largest single liquidation order was recorded on Binance: an ETHUSDT position worth $4.33 million. Meanwhile, open interest jumped 14% to $121.6 billion, indicating rising leveraged bets.
Despite the broad rally, the Altcoin Season Index remains at 16, signaling the market is still firmly in “Bitcoin season.”
Bitcoin extended its bullish breakout this week, posting its strongest daily gain for April on Tuesday with a 6.7% jump that pushed the price to a 7-week high of $93,600. The rally flipped the market structure from bearish to bullish after the price decisively broke through the double top resistance at $88,900, a level now reinforced by the 20-period EMA on the 4-hour chart.
