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BitMEX Sees $44 Mln Worth of Bitcoin Shorts Being Liquidated in Minutes

πŸ‘€βœ‚After see-sawing in the $11,000 region, Bitcoin is finally seeing some price action with the next target set at $12,000πŸ’±πŸ”†

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Cover image via CryptoComes.com

Bitcoin is inching closer to break above a major resistance level of $12,000 after its price added approximately $500 in no time. That unexpected move liquidated an enormous amount of shorts on cryptocurrency derivatives behemoth BitMEX.

Trading and gambling

BitMEX, which allows you to bet on Bitcoin’s future price action with up to 1:100 leverage, draws a lot of criticism for turning cryptocurrency trading into gambling. The issue has been recently brought up by famous Bitcoin naysayer Nouriel Roubini, who accused the exchange’s CEO Arthur Hayes of emptying the pockets of his risk-taking users.
 
If there’s high-leveraged trading involved, traders can get instantly liquidated on even tiny moves. Thus, this 5 percent uptick resulted in a staggering $44 mln loss for those who shorted BTC.

Another bullish move

As it usually happens with Bitcoin, there was no clear precursor to this sudden price increase. The network’s hashrate hit its new ATH on July 7, according to data provided by Blockchain.info. That means that new mining hardware is coming into play while competition between miners continues to grow.

However, trading expert Alex KrΓΌger earlier claimed that hash rate doesn’t serve as a harbinger of a future bullish move. In fact, the situation is the opposite – it usually follows the price of BTC.

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Alex Dovbnya

Alex covers all things crypto β€” from major projects, which are fighting tooth and nail to gain the upper hand in the burgeoning industry, to the latest regulatory trends around the world. He’s a firm believer that Blockchain has the potential to reshape pretty much every business out there, and cryptocurrencies are only a stepping stone to the upcoming decentralized revolution.