Bitcoin surged past $71,000 and ether rose 19% to $3,700 after analysts increased the likelihood of a U.S. spot ETH ETF approval to 75%.
Early Tuesday saw Bitcoin (BTC) surpass $71,000, its highest level since early April. Ether, meanwhile, surged over 19% to $3,700, following Bloomberg analysts’ increase in the likelihood that the spot ETH exchange-traded fund (ETF) will be approved in the United States to 75%.
Other majors recorded gains that were comparatively modest, as evidenced by the 3-6% increases in XRP, Cardano’s ADA, Solana’s SOL, and dogecoin (DOGE), according to data from CoinGecko.
The abrupt ascent prompted market-wide short liquidations exceeding $260 million, the largest amount since February 28. According to Coinglass data, ether shorts lost more than $115 million, while bitcoin shorts lost just over $99 million.
Binance recorded the largest liquidation amount among counterparties, over $130 million; OKX followed with $118 million and Huobi with $51 million.
Shorts are investments that wager against price increases. When an exchange forcibly terminates a trader’s leveraged position due to a partial or total loss of the trader’s initial margin, this is referred to as liquidation.
Margin insufficiency occurs when a trader lacks the necessary funds to maintain an open position on a leveraged position, thereby failing to satisfy the margin requirements.
Late on Monday, as Bloomberg analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart increased the probability of a spot ether ETF from an initial 20% to 75%, the markets began to rise.
Subsequently, CoinDesk reported that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requested that exchanges vying for ether-based mutual funds revise their 19b-4 filings prior to this week’s crucial deadline.
Market participants regard the sanction of an ether ETF as a bullish development, as it facilitates the ingress of institutional capital. Since its inception in January, the spot bitcoin ETF has amassed a total of $12 billion in inflows for BTC, with state funds and leading trading firms among its holders.
Meanwhile, some speculators anticipate further ether price increases in the coming days.
“We believe it is unlikely that the spot will settle here,” QCP Capital, based in Singapore, stated in a Tuesday broadcast. “Approval would bring us closer to 4k, while denial would return us to 3k.” “Exchanges are being requested to expedite the revision of their 19b-4 filings, which indicates approval is imminent.”
