$202 Million In Long Liquidations Rock Bitcoin Market — What’s Next For BTC Price?

Over the weekend, Bitcoin’s price extended its disappointing performance, falling to around $103,000 in the early hours of Saturday, May 31st. While the premier cryptocurrency seems to have recovered fine in the past day, its price is still more than 6% away from the recently achieved all-time high of $111,814. Interestingly, the latest on-chain data suggests that the Bitcoin price could resume its upward trajectory anytime from now.

In a Quicktake post on the CryptoQuant platform, on-chain analyst Burak Kesmeci shared that the Bitcoin market witnessed its third-largest long liquidation in the month of May. Data from CryptoQuant shows that $202 million in BTC long positions were liquidated on the Binance derivatives exchange on Friday, May 30th.

As highlighted by Kesmeci, leveraged trading and speculative pressure ramped up on the world’s largest crypto exchange as the price of Bitcoin rallied from around $94,000 to a new record high above $111,000. These long liquidations typically occur when derivatives traders are forced to close their positions as prices move sharply against them, leading to automatic sell-offs that can further trigger volatility in both directions.

The latest event — involving $202 million worth of BTC long positions — is the third-largest in the past month, trailing only two larger liquidations in May: $211 million on May 12 and $277 million on May 23. This series of high-value liquidations reflects the increased speculative activity in the Bitcoin market over the past few weeks.

While the investors who suffered this liquidation may feel hard done by the market, these mass liquidations could be positive for the flagship cryptocurrency — a healthy reset for what is starting to feel like an overheated market. By removing excessive leverage, the Bitcoin market can reestablish a more stable foundation for price discovery and a continued upward trend.

According to another on-chain analyst with the pseudonym Darkfost, the Bitcoin funding rates are still at extremely low levels. This trend signals the unwillingness and hesitation of traders to open new long positions, read the post on X.

Darkfost added:

Typically, when Bitcoin breaks above its previous all-time high, we tend to see a surge in funding rates, signaling that euphoria and risk appetite are back. But that’s not what we’re seeing right now, investors need more clarity before jumping in with conviction.

The on-chain analyst stated that this cautious stance of investors could be positive for the Bitcoin price and the upward trend. Moreover, the lack of euphoria reflects a market that is yet to be overheated, with room for further upside growth.

As of this writing, the price of BTC stands at around $ 104,897, reflecting a mere 0.2% increase in the past 24 hours.

Related Reading: Bitcoin Sharpe Ratio Says It’s Time For ‘Cautious Optimism’ — Further Upside Growth Incoming?