Bitcoin jumped past the $24,000 mark for the first time in two weeks, soaring more than 8% in the past 24 hours, likely driven by a short squeeze. This percentage increase was the largest since BTC climbed 10.5% on Sept. 9.
The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization had dropped below $21,600 at multiple points in the past few days due to investor worries regarding potential crypto regulations, particularly targeting stablecoin markets, and future U.S. Federal Reserve measures to control inflation.
Nevertheless, these apprehensions seem to have been forgotten as bitcoin surged past $24,100 before slightly declining. Data from crypto data provider Coinglass revealed that traders who bet on price movements liquidated some $65 million of BTC in the past day, with about $60 million of that in short positions.
Crypto-related stocks also experienced a surge, with Coinbase (COIN) and bitcoin miner Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA) both increasing by 15%. Business software company MicroStrategy (MSTR), a major BTC holder, rose more than 9%.
Lucas Outumuro, head of research at blockchain analytics firm IntoTheBlock, attributed the rally to the tepid U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) which showed inflation dropping to 6.4% annually while not meeting analysts’ expectations. “The positive reaction to the CPI print, even though it was higher than expected, was seen as a sign of strength for the rally to persist in risk assets,” Outumuro told CoinDesk.
Riyad Carey, research analyst at crypto data firm Kaiko, also observed that markets may have already absorbed the impacts of the potential regulations related to stablecoins, such as Binance’s BUSD token. “Crypto has had some extra catalysts with the BUSD news, which has already been considered and I think today was a reflection of some of the regulatory concerns – particularly on BUSD – fading,” Carey explained to CoinDesk.