Bitcoin has climbed back above $80,000 on Nov. 4 as short liquidations across the cryptocurrency market have reached $378 million in one hour, following several sessions of withdrawals from U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Summary
- Crypto shorts worth $378.09 million were liquidated in one hour, accounting for 81% of forced closures.
- Bitcoin traded near $80,470, while Ethereum gained 6.1% over 24 hours to approximately $2,428.
- U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs lost $1.16 billion across three sessions, according to Bitfinex.
- Bitfinex identified potential selling pressure around $84,000–$85,500 in its Nov. 2 assessment.
According to CoinGlass, total liquidations reached $466.33 million over the hour captured in its dashboard, including $88.24 million in long positions alongside the much larger short wipeout.
Bitcoin traded around $80,470 during the rally, up 4.1% over 24 hours and recovering from the roughly $76,000 area seen during the recent decline. Ethereum moved faster, gaining approximately 5% within a couple of hours and bringing its daily advance to 6.1%.
The move followed the U.S. midterm election period, when Bitcoin had struggled below $80,000 amid ETF withdrawals and weakness in technology shares.
Bitcoin’s recovery coincides with concentrated short liquidations
CoinGlass’s overlapping reporting windows show how much of the liquidation activity occurred during the latest hour.
Across four hours, short liquidations totaled $386.16 million. The one-hour reading accounted for nearly 98% of that amount, based on a comparison of the dashboard figures. Only $8.07 million of the four-hour short total fell outside the latest hour.
Short positions represented approximately 81.1% of the hour’s liquidations, compared with 60.6% over 24 hours. The hourly short total was roughly 4.3 times the $88.24 million recorded for longs.
Over four hours, total forced closures reached $501.42 million, including $115.26 million in longs. The 12-hour window showed $652 million in liquidations, with shorts accounting for $526.44 million.
Liquidations occur when exchanges close leveraged positions because traders no longer have enough collateral to maintain them. During this rally, traders betting on falling prices accounted for most of the forced closures.
The liquidation totals record positions being closed, however, rather than measuring fresh purchases in the spot market.
ETF withdrawals preceded the return above $80,000
According to Bitfinex, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $1.16 billion in outflows across three trading sessions, their largest such withdrawal since late June.
BlackRock’s IBIT accounted for $405.3 million in outflows on Nov. 2, which the exchange described as the fund’s biggest daily withdrawal this year.
As crypto.news previously reported, Bitcoin fell below $77,000 on Nov. 3 as institutional withdrawals continued. The funds lost $398.6 million collectively on Nov. 2, with inflows into other products partly offsetting IBIT’s redemptions.
Bitfinex’s post set out a specific condition for identifying renewed demand: three consecutive days of inflows comparable in size to the recent withdrawals.
The exchange’s assessment therefore leaves a distinction between the price recovery already recorded and the sustained fund buying it wants to see. The ETF figures cover the sessions before the latest rally.
Bitfinex places potential sellers above Bitcoin’s breakout
Before the move through $80,000, Bitfinex’s Nov. 2 report described Bitcoin as trading within a $77,000–$80,000 support band, where buying remained largely passive.
Its analysis identified 2.26 million BTC acquired between $81,000 and $85,500. The exchange said holders approaching their purchase prices could create selling pressure during a recovery.
Within that range, Bitfinex highlighted $84,000–$85,500 as an area where sellers could seek to exit around breakeven. It presented the zone as potential overhead supply, without forecasting that Bitcoin would necessarily reach it.
The report found resting spot bids between $78,000 and $79,000 had grown to approximately $42 million from $24 million in mid-October. Bids previously absorbed at $80,000 had not been replaced at the time of the assessment.
Bitcoin and Ethereum lead the daily liquidation totals
On CoinGlass’s 24-hour heatmap, Bitcoin accounted for $396.18 million in liquidations, with shorts representing 75.9%. Ethereum followed with $236.55 million, of which 55.9% came from shorts.
Solana recorded $28.56 million, while Zcash accounted for $20.14 million.
Across the market, 117,560 traders faced liquidation over 24 hours, with total forced closures reaching $914.84 million. Shorts accounted for $554.81 million and longs for $360.02 million.
Binance held the largest exchange share at 38.9%. The largest individual liquidation recorded in the snapshot was a $38 million ETH-USDT position on HTX.
