Why Traders Should Brace for Crypto Volatility This Week

The total crypto market cap rose over 3% over the past day, reaching $2.5 trillion, a level last seen in early February.

The upward move proved costly for short traders. CoinGlass data shows that over the past 24 hours, 93,887 traders were liquidated, totaling $367.79 million in liquidations.

Crypto Rally Liquidates Short Position Holders as Market Hits $2.5 Trillion

Ethereum led the liquidation tally at $140.1 million, followed closely by Bitcoin at $129.78 million. The vast majority of those positions were short bets, wagers that prices would fall.

Alphractal’s on-chain data reveals that short sellers on BTC and ETH are getting wiped out at scale. Bitcoin surged to over $73,695, while Ethereum exceeded $2,236, both crossing into price zones where the highest concentration of potential liquidations had accumulated over the past 30 days. 

The resulting short squeeze, where forced closures of bearish positions generate additional buying pressure, may be amplifying the upward momentum.

However, Alphractal’s founder, Joao Wedson, warned that significant volatility lies ahead this week.

“Prepare yourself, this week will bring a lot of volatility in the crypto market,” he said.

The firm’s data shows that accumulated long positions now heavily outweigh shorts, with long-heavy readings of 63% on Bitcoin and 71% on Ethereum. This means the majority of remaining open leveraged positions are bets on further upside.

Key long liquidation levels sit well below current prices, around $64,443 and $61,637 for Bitcoin, and near $2,221 and $1,979 for Ethereum. Alphractal noted that the largest cluster of positions still not liquidated is now longs.

This indicates that any sudden downturn could trigger cascading long liquidations just as aggressively as the short squeeze played out to the upside. Thus, traders should brace for elevated volatility in the week ahead.