Flagship cryptocurrency asset, Bitcoin, has lost approximately $4,000 from its 24-hour high of $44,132.97 to trade as low as $40,249.37 in the Asian session today, as investors react to the situation in Ukraine and Russia.
The situation between Ukraine and Russia worsened as Russia expelled Bart Gorman, the United States Deputy Chief of Diplomatic Mission, from the country after President Biden reiterated that the threat of a Ukraine invasion by Russia was “very high.”
As you would expect, the Altcoin market is not having a trilled day as many of the top 20 altcoins are down 5% or more in the last 24 hours, as they react to Bitcoin’s decline. The cryptocurrency market capitalization is down 5.57% currently trading at $1.86 trillion as of the time of this writing.
What you should know
According to data from Coin Glass, a total of 77,429 traders have been liquidated, amounting to a total liquidation of $294.50 million seen in the cryptocurrency market. The longs accounted for $260.39 million, representing 88.42% of the total liquidation. The shorts accounted for the rest.
Bitcoin accounted for the most liquidations with $128.20 million, accounting for 43.53% of the total liquidations seen. Ethereum, XRP and Solana accounted for $72.34 million, $5.37 million and $5.36 million respectively.
OKEx accounted for the most liquidations by exchange in the last 24 hours. The exchange accounted for 109.60 million, accounting for 37.22% of the total liquidations seen. Binance, Bybit and FTX followed, accounting for $76.94 million, $36.83 million and $32.40 million respectively.
What they are saying
The effect of the Ukraine-Russia situation was touched upon by David Lifchitz, managing partner and chief investment officer at ExoAlpha, who noted that the situation “is definitely weighing on risk assets, up like Feb. 15, down like today.”
While the Ukraine-Russia saga is currently dominating news headlines and causing widespread weakness across global markets, Lifchitz suggested that the situation “looks like a distraction from the real rates/inflation issue.”
According to Lifchitz, this current conflict may only last a few months while “the inflation/rates issue is a multi-year issue that can hit much more, on a broader scale, and for a longer time.”
He further explained, “Bitcoin is just pulling back into its $30,000 to $50,000 range for now as we remain in a traders’ market. So, unless there’s a significant break below $33,000 or above $48,000, the swing trading will continue and altcoins will follow the move, with just more amplitude.”
However, in the short term, many traders believe the $40,000 support zone is a ‘make or break moment’ for Bitcoin as bulls are struggling to defend that critical support zone.