A surge in Bitcoin is slowing down as investors wait for US inflation statistics and keep an eye on a significant Ethereum blockchain upgrade, both of which have the potential to increase market volatility, leaving some investors burnt.
For the past day, 45,776 traders betting against the crypto market rise were liquidated, with the total liquidations coming in at $176.97 million.
The largest single liquidation order happened on Okex – BTC-USD-SWAP valued at $3.50 million.
Early on Monday, the largest token increased by as much as 3.3%, momentarily reaching $22,000 before reversing course and trading virtually unchanged as of this writing. Smaller currencies like XRP and Solana, as well as Ether, were struggling.
The leading cryptocurrency had a difficult week as it fell to a six-week low at just over $18,500 in the middle of it. Since it dropped below $20,000 at the end of August, this has been losing a lot of value, and that trend has persisted.
After that regional low, BTC gained some ground and rebounded $19,000. It was unmoved even by the European Central Bank’s record interest rate increase.
On September 9, Bitcoin increased by about 10% as more undervalued assets gained support thanks to a weaker dollar, which suggested that there was a little less fear in what has been a challenging year for global markets.
A higher-than-anticipated rise in US inflation on Tuesday may increase the likelihood of restrictive monetary policies, which are bad news for the value of cryptocurrencies. Any hiccups in Ethereum’s upgrade, which is scheduled for later this week and is the most significant crypto network commercially, might also cause unrest.
Prior to the latter’s shift to a more energy-efficient blockchain, known as the Merge, Ether, the native coin for the Ethereum network, is in the spotlight. The numerous financial applications that rely on the network are under close watch for any hiccups, and the crypto community is on high alert.
With the Merge rapidly coming, the second-largest cryptocurrency is now on the verge of crossing $1,800.
