Bitcoin jumped above $66,000, hitting its highest level since mid-June when prices hovered above $67,000.
Bitcoin (BTC) is currently up 4.7% over the past 24 hours as buyers hover around $66,670. Meanwhile, Ethereum (ETH) is above $3,500 and Solana (SOL) is trading above $170 – up 3% and 8% respectively.
Other altcoins are also trading positively, with BNB (BNB) up 4.9%, Dogecoin (DOGE) up 4.5%, and Cardano (ADA) up 3%.
Bitcoin Price Surges Amid Global IT Outage
Bitcoin’s price surge came as talks continued over the potential inclusion of the benchmark cryptocurrency as a U.S. strategic national reserve.
Key to Bitcoin’s surge to an intraday high above $66,800 was the chaos that accompanied a major IT outage on Friday, with airlines grounded and banks, media outlets and other global businesses disrupted.
The outage came after a software update by cybersecurity giant CrowdStrike.
With Bitcoin’s strengths highlighted by widespread internet outages, the market seemed to be receiving signals of a fresh recovery. The space also saw a massive surge in spot ETF volume.
Short Traders Feel the Pain as Bitcoin Price Soars
Meanwhile, the price surge has wiped out short positions. In the past hour, as of 14:24 EST on Friday, for example, more than $6 million in bitcoin short positions were liquidated — compared to just $79,700 in long positions.
Data shows Filter Over the past four hours, we have seen over $12 million worth of bearish Bitcoin bets liquidated compared to $1.6 million worth of long contracts.
In the broader market, over $30 million in short positions were liquidated in the past four hours. This outpaces long liquidations by a wide margin, with only $5.3 million in long positions liquidated during this period.
On Thursday, analysts at Santiment noted a spike in short positions in the Bitcoin market as the price of Bitcoin remained below $63,000. Liquidations increased as the price of Bitcoin rose above $66,800.
