Crypto prices saw wild swings on Thursday as traders eagerly awaited a decision by the US regulator to launch spot-based ether-traded funds.
Read more: Ether ETFs are clearing major hurdles, although the SEC has not yet approved them for trading
Within a nerve-wracking hour leading up to the final approval, ETH first fell to $3,500 around the traditional US market close, then rose to almost $3,900 as the first unconfirmed reports of a post-confirmation approval finally appeared to top $3,800.
Bitcoin {{BTC}} saw a similarly frenetic period falling to the low $66,000s, then peaking at $68,300 before paring gains below $68,000. However, ETH performed stronger, rising 1.5% over the past 24 hours, compared to BTC’s decline of almost 3% over the same period. The broad market CoinDesk 20 Index fell 1.6% for the day.
Amid the volatile episode, liquidations of all leveraged crypto derivatives positions rose to more than $350 million during the day, the highest since May 1, CoinGlass data showed.
Liquidations occur when an exchange closes a leveraged trading position due to a partial or total loss of the trader’s initial funds or “margin” – if the trader fails to meet margin requirements or does not have sufficient funds to keep the transaction open.
The lion’s share of the wiped out positions were long bets on rising prices, worth about $250 million, indicating that over-indebted traders were caught off guard by the sudden price drop. ETH traders took the biggest hit, with $132 million in liquidations, followed by $70 million in BTC derivative liquidations.
