$1.14B in Crypto Shorts Rekt as Ethereum Tops $3K For First Time Since February

Ethereum has climbed 8.8% over the past 24 hours, topping $3,000 for the first time since early February. The move comes following the largest single day for U.S. Ethereum exchange-traded fund inflows at $383.1 million, according to Farside data.

As Ethereum’s price jumped, $258.6 million worth of Ethereum shorts were liquidated over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGlass data. Ethereum remains down 38.3% from its all-time high of $4,878 hit in November 2021.

The move marks a reversal of somewhat negative sentiment regarding Ethereum. Predictors on Myriad Market believed there was a near 50% chance that the cryptocurrency would drop to $2,000 before it would hit $3,000 earlier this month, as ETH hovered around $2,500. From Tuesday, those odds started to widen before reaching 100% early on Friday.

(Disclosure: Myriad is an on-chain prediction market developed by Decrypt’s parent company DASTAN.)

Ethereum treasury firm SharpLink Gaming holds 205,634 ETH, following a purchase of more tokens on Tuesday. That stash is now worth $618,403,128, up 17% from Tuesday.

“Ethereum’s breakout past $3,000 and its brief lead over Bitcoin in futures volume at $62.1 billion reflects increasing risk appetite and expanding trader interest in ETH derivatives,” Pankaj Balani, CEO and co-founder of futures and options app Delta Exchange, said in a note shared with Decrypt.

On Thursday, Bitcoin set a new all-time high as it surpassed $116,000, then on Friday morning it climbed even further to $118,667.

In turn, more than $678 million worth of Bitcoin shorts have been liquidated. In total, according to CoinGlass, more than $1.14 billion worth of short positions across the crypto market have been liquidated. 

Now Myriad Market predictors are eyeing up a valuation of $125,00 for Bitcoin with 67.5% of users believing it’ll happen before a drop to $105,000.

“Ethereum’s rise of [8.8%] to a five-month high of $3,014 highlights that this is not just a Bitcoin-led rally,” Raj Karkara, COO of crypto exchange ZebPay, said in a note shared with Decrypt. “Both assets are moving in tandem, fueling renewed optimism across the crypto landscape. The strength of Bitcoin and Ethereum together signals a broader market alignment and sets the stage for accelerated adoption and deeper integration of crypto into the global financial system.”

Other notable projects have also seen gains as the entire crypto market has risen 2.4%, according to CoinGecko. XRP has climbed 8.6%, Dogecoin 10.2%, and Cardano 15.8%.