Crypto Liquidations Surge Following Biden’s Withdrawal—Bitcoin Sees Upswing
After Joe Biden’s announcement that he would not run for the 2024 presidential election, the price of Bitcoin experienced a brief dip. This plunge resulted in the liquidation of millions of dollars in long positions. However, the impact was short-lived.
Within 30 minutes, Bitcoin’s price fell from $67,453 to $65,884, according to CoinGecko data. The uncertainty surrounding such a significant change in the election landscape seemingly triggered selling pressures, as evidenced by similar short-term price drops in other top cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Solana.
Nevertheless, following Biden’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate, Bitcoin and other major assets began to climb to levels not seen in over a month.
Bitcoin surged as high as $68,284, reaching a price last observed on June 12. However, it has since cooled off slightly. Similarly, Solana achieved its highest price in two months, currently sitting at nearly $185.
Solana is home to several major political meme coins, such as KAMA, which is the most valuable Kamala Harris meme coin. KAMA experienced a pump to a new all-time high price of above $0.025 on Sunday before stabilizing. Conversely, the leading Biden token, “Jeo Boden” (BODEN), has plummeted 52% in the day and is now nearly 99% below its peak price in April.
During the volatility, both long and short positions witnessed significant liquidations on Sunday. In the past 24 hours, liquidations on positions speculating on future price movements amounted to nearly $159 million.
Long positions dominated these liquidations, accounting for $99 million across the market. A substantial portion of this occurred during the significant price dip following Biden’s announcement. Bitcoin led the way with $46 million in total liquidations, followed by Ethereum with $31 million.
Overall, despite the initial market turbulence triggered by Biden’s dropout, Bitcoin and other top cryptocurrencies have subsequently rebounded, now displaying positive price momentum.