Bitcoin back above $67,000, but market volatility causes spike in liquidations

The upward price trajectory of bitcoin over the past 24 hours has resulted in nearly $40 million worth of bitcoin short liquidations.

There have been over $164 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours in the cryptocurrency market. Of these liquidations, the vast majority, around $105 million, were short positions. Bitcoin short positions took the largest share of the damage, with almost $40 million in liquidations in the past 24 hours, according to Coinglass data . 

The wipeout of short position came as bitcoin broke above the $67,000 mark. The largest digital asset by market capitalization increased by over 2% in the past 24 hours and was changing hands for $67,087 at 8:56 a.m. ET, according to The Block's Price Page .

Has Grayscale exhausted one point of sell pressure?

Last week was the first in two months where the crypto market saw spot bitcoin ETF net outflows. Outflows have been concentrated around the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).

According to The Block's Data Dashboard , GBTC outflows totaled over $2 billion last week, an increase of over 58% from the $1.26 billion in outflows over the previous week's five days of trading. Coinbase analysts have speculated that selling activity on GBTC might have contributed to the heightened net outflows observed last week.

In a recent Coinbase report , analysts suggested that Genesis Global Holdco LLC's potential sale of 35.9 million GBTC shares, valued at around $2 billion, might have caused last week's GBTC selling pressure.

Genesis received permission on February 14 from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York to sell its GBTC shares. Coinbase added that it is unclear whether the recent GBTC outflows are linked to these sales, citing the absence of direct public filings that immediately announce when they happen. 

"For now, we can only infer that the size and scope of the change in GBTC shares outstanding coincide with recent developments on Genesis’ payment obligations. More importantly, given that the majority of creditor payments will be made in crypto and not cash, the market effect on bitcoin performance should eventually be net neutral, in our view," Coinbase analysts said in an email sent to The Block.

The Coinbase analysts added that if these specific GBTC sales have been completed, "we think the macro environment remains amenable for more spot bitcoin ETF inflows following the U.S. Federal Reserve meeting that concluded on March 20."

GBTC outflows 'likely due to Genesis'

According to Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas, last week's notable GBTC outflows were likely due to Genesis.

"The nine new Bitcoin ETFs have taken in about $1.2 billion in past 5 days as price declined 8%," Balchunas  said  on the social media platform X.

"GBTC had outflows yes, but it is largely Genesis (we know this for fact), who is simply exchanging GBTC shares for spot BTC, so net neutral event (plus GBTC is all pre-ETF money). Add it up, the ETFs have been net buyers of BTC (and none of the new money has left in fact more has come in). As usual, when it comes to selloffs, the call is coming from inside the house."