Crypto traders betting against Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) were caught off guard as the price of the king cryptocurrency surged past $46,000, leading to a cascade of short position liquidations.

What Happened: According to data from Coinglass, in just 24 hours, a wave of liquidations saw 58,496 traders facing losses, totaling $215.37 million worth of liquidated positions. The largest single liquidation order, valued at a staggering $9.44 million, occurred on OKX, specifically within a Bitcoin to USDT (Tether) swap.

Bitcoin shorts bore the brunt of this squeeze, with $90 million worth of bearish (short)  bets getting liquidated in a day, while Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) shorts saw a significant hit as well, tallying up to $25 million.

The Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index has reached a level of 76, indicating a state of ‘Extreme Greed’ among market participants.

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Why It Matters: Blockchain analyst Jamie Coutts suggested an alternate rationale for the cryptocurrency’s appreciation. “According to CT (crypto Twitter) and the media, the only reason Bitcoin is up 150% in the past year is because of pre-ETF launch positioning. But do the fundamentals support current prices?”

Coutts cites network activity indices to demonstrate Bitcoin’s robust fundamental value. “This custom index, incorporating several network adoption metrics, is at an all-time high, yet BTC is still 40% below its peak,” Coutts said, postulating that despite Bitcoin’s price still trailing beneath its record levels, its current valuation doesn’t fully reflect the strength of its fundamentals.

Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reiterated a cautionary stance against FOMO-driven crypto investment strategies just days before the anticipated ETF approval. 

Price Action: At the time of writing, BTC was trading at $46,864.34 up 6.77% on Monday, according to Benzinga Pro.

Photo by AlyoshinE on Shutterstock

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