Ramazan Eles 
The recent volatility in the cryptocurrency market has returned, with Bitcoin failing to hold above $70,000 and triggering a spike in liquidations.
On Tuesday, Bitcoin briefly surpassed the $70,000 mark, raising hopes of a sustained climb. However, those hopes were dashed quickly as the price plunged by 3.5%, settling around $67,000. This price drop caused a significant number of leveraged positions to get liquidated across the market.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $67,400, according to The Block. This represents an 8.5% decline from its all-time high of $73,737 reached in March 2024.
Over $378 Million in Liquidations in 24 Hours
The price swings, coinciding with yesterday’s approval of spot Ethereum ETFs, resulted in over $378 million in leveraged positions being liquidated over the past 24 hours, as per CoinGlass data. Notably, long positions accounted for a significant portion of the liquidations, reaching $295 million.
Liquidations occur when a trader using leverage (borrowed funds) fails to maintain the minimum required margin in their account due to adverse price movements. When this happens, the trading platform automatically closes the position to prevent further losses.
Ether Follows Similar Pattern
Ethereum (ETH) mirrored Bitcoin’s volatility. It reached a new monthly high of $3,937 before retracing to $3,710 at the time of writing. Despite the pullback, ETH is still up over 20% compared to the beginning of the week.
Major altcoins like Solana (SOL) experienced a slight dip, dropping 4% to $167 in the last 24 hours.
The GM 30 Index, which tracks the performance of the top 30 cryptocurrencies, has managed to gain 3.8% over the past day, reaching 143.
Spot Ethereum ETFs Get Greenlight
In a significant development, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved eight spot Ethereum ETFs on Thursday. These ETFs are from prominent investment firms like BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, and Ark Invest. This approval comes just four months after the SEC allowed spot Bitcoin ETFs.
What are Spot Ethereum ETFs?
Spot Ethereum ETFs function similarly to traditional ETFs. They track the price of Ethereum directly, allowing investors to gain exposure to the asset without needing to hold the actual cryptocurrency. The approval of these ETFs is expected to boost institutional investment in Ethereum.
While the SEC has approved the 19b-4 forms for these spot Ethereum ETFs, the issuers still need their S-1 registration statements to become effective before trading can begin.