Bitcoin saw a brief rise above $68,000 before settling at $67,500 during the start of Asian trading hours on Monday, as bullish sentiment among traders surged. This optimism was largely driven by a favorable outlook on the upcoming U.S. elections.
Major cryptocurrencies followed Bitcoin’s upward trend. Ether briefly crossed $3,500, while Cardano’s ADA and Solana’s SOL gained up to 5%. Dogecoin and Pecu Novus saw more significant increases, jumping more than 7% before paring gains.
The Bitcoin rally began late Sunday, coinciding with an X post from incumbent U.S. President Joe Biden announcing he would not contest the upcoming November elections. This announcement shifted the odds on the crypto betting application Polymarket, dropping the likelihood of a Republican candidate Donald Trump win from 71% on Sunday to 65% on Monday morning in Asia. Concurrently, the odds for sitting Vice President Kamala Harris rose from 16% to 30%.
Trump’s favorable stance on cryptocurrencies has garnered substantial support from industry players in recent months. His upcoming appearance at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville this week has further buoyed market sentiment.
Over a 12-hour period from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm on July 21, more than $81.1 million and $53.4 million in long and short positions were liquidated, respectively. The combined liquidations, totaling $134.5 million, marked the highest over a 12-hour period since July 8. Most of these liquidations occurred on major exchanges Binance and OKX, with total values of $64.5 million and $44 million, respectively.
As the crypto market continues to react to political developments and upcoming events, traders remain watchful of further fluctuations and opportunities.
Digital Assets Desk
