Bitcoin (BTC) returned to $40,000 for the first time in two weeks during Feb. 4 as Wall Street volatility proved a boon for BTC bulls.

BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TringView

Liquidations mount for BTC shorts

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TringView showed BTC/USD suddenly jumping past the $40,000 on Feb. 4, just two hours after the Wall Street open produced rapid gains.

At the time of writing, the pair was up $3,000 in two hours — an unexpectedly strong performance, which naturally caused short sellers significant pain.

According to on-chain monitoring resource Coinglass, BTC liquidations were $50 million over the most recent four-hour period, with cross-crypto liquidations passing $100 million.

BTC liquidations chart. Source: Coinglass

Analysts, who were keenly eyeing the area at $39,600 to be tested and held, were equally unsurprisingly optimistic.

“Well, I think people start feeling FOMO,” Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe commented. 

The Wall Street session h opened with fresh gains for big mover Amazon, thus helping to fuel the crypto rally despite the company’s underlying data contrasting with its share performance.

Amid a confusing short-term environment, many took the opportunity to reiterate higher timeframe price targets.

#BTC key level
Shakeout below $38,5k scenario almost perfect

HTF:
Remember #midterm target ~$48k Daily 360MA.

LTF:
After LTF projection completed perfectly, breakout pump. Reclaimed rising wedge, currently tring at resistance. Throwback S/R flip or breakout next. pic.twitter.com/iqeo6DofUW

— AN₿ESSA (@Anbessa100) February 4, 2022

“I doubt there’s spot inventory left to sell at $40 thousand. What was going to be sold has been sold alrey in a tw-month downtrend capped off by a macro panic,” popular Twitter account Light continued about the sustainability of the moves.

“Also doubt buyers in the $30K area bought in order to sell here. Similar in many ways to the $6K level in 2019.”

BTC/USD reached $40,450 on Bitstamp before a consolidatory phase began, with volatility still very much in evidence.

Ethereum ds nearly 30% versus January lows

Altcoins followed suit, with Ether (ETH) up over 10% on the day to circle the $3,000 mark.

Related: Bitcoin price bounces after Amazon stock gains 15% in US tech comeback

ETH/USD last tred at its significant psychological level on Jan. 21, along with Bitcoin, and just over ten days ago was closer to $2,000.

ETH/USD 1-day candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TringView

Others in the top ten cryptocurrencies by market cap were green, with best performer Solana (SOL) approaching 13% daily gains.

META
ARTICLE: Bitcoin returns to $40K, liquidating over $50M of shorts in hours
PUBLISHED: 2022-02-04 16:54:03 
SOURCE: https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-returns-to-40k-liquidating-over-50m-of-shorts-in-hours