Bitcoin plans to sell for $48K in a spot-driven price boost

The bitcoin price is up to its highest point since early April 2022, but short sellers are ready for more ETF volatility. In the Asia trading day on January 2, excitement returned to the cryptocurrency markets, and Bitcoin (BTC) $45,437 reached new 21-month highs.

Bitcoin’s price is approaching the ETF goal range.

As the New Year holiday break concluded, data from TradingView and Cointelegraph Markets Pro showed that the price of bitcoin was strengthening.BTC/USD gained speed to reach $45,922 on Bitstamp amid rekindled enthusiasm about the launch of the first Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States.

Rumors circulated about the ETF, including the possibility of deciding on the formal approval window, which opens on January 4.

Regarding the cause of the most recent increase in the price of Bitcoin, traders couldn’t agree. Crypto Tony sent an update to followers on  Twitter in which he talked about “anticipation” of the ETF driving trajectory.

“Bitcoin is trading like an ETF is about to be approved,” trader, analyst, and podcast host Scott Melker stated. While some selling was occurring, it was rather minor in volume, according to fellow trader Skew’s analysis of order book adjustments.

“Price stalling since spot selling started, eyeing previous highs as an area of importance on a dip ($44.4K),” his latest Twitter post confirmed. Estimates of how high Bitcoin/USD could go around the ETF center around $48,000, as published by Cointelegraph.

No huge disaster for Bitcoin shorts

Even if Bitcoin has already gained up to 8% in 2024, there haven’t been any significant losses from those who were betting against it. As of this writing, only $38 million worth of Bitcoin shorts have liquidated on the day, according to the most recent numbers from statistics resource CoinGlass.In the past, Cointelegraph has reported on extraordinarily high funding rates on exchanges, indicating a widespread consensus that the ETF event would trigger an upside ahead of schedule. In the meantime, cross-crypto short liquidations were at $62 million.

Nevertheless, Skew pointed out that traders of perpetual swaps are unprepared for a leg higher, catching “earlier” shorts off guard during the surge beyond $45,000. This indicates that the perp market is generally underexposed to the current spot-driven increase. As a result, he said, “there will be a feedback loop of volatility with perps trailing spot price, especially around $45K.”