Bitcoin's price is now aiming for $73,000, just below its all-time high, where new short positions are beginning to accumulate.

Over $102 million in leveraged short positions were liquidated in the last 24 hours, while Bitcoin (BTC) traded above $70,400. Is the breakout from Bitcoin's weekly price range confirmed?

Bitcoin's Recent Pullback Triggers $102 Million in Market Liquidations

Following the weekly high of $72,668 on April 8, Bitcoin price retraced to trade above $70,413, falling 0.55% in the 24 hours leading up to 9:45 a.m. UTC, according to CoinMarketCap.

Following BTC's rise to a weekly high, the cryptocurrency market saw over $102 million in leveraged short positions liquidated in the last 24 hours, for a total of $186.8 million, according to Coinglass data.

BTC liquidations totaled $61.6 million, which included over $33.9 million in short positions and $27.7 million in leveraged longs. The largest single liquidation order on Binance, the world's largest exchange, was for $4.49 million worth of Bitcoin.

However, the $33 million in short Bitcoin liquidations is less than the $38 million short liquidations on April 2. Furthermore, BTC's unexpected 5% drawdown on April 2 liquidated $165 million in leverage in less than two hours.

If BTC's price rallies back to $73,000, Binance will liquidate over $507 million in cumulative short leverage. Short liquidations on Binance would total $666 million at $73,500.

Traders should also keep an eye on the $73,000 level, which is close to the current all-time high and now serves as significant resistance and a potential short-liquidation zone for the Bitcoin price.

Following the liquidations, the Bitcoin futures funding rate experienced a healthy reset, dropping to 0.0163% on April 9, nearly three times lower than the day before. However, this remains significantly lower than the three-week high of 0.0714% on April 1.

Bitcoin Retests All-Time High, Analysts Predict Sustained Rally Post-Halving

According to an April 7 X post by popular crypto analyst Rekt Capital, the Bitcoin price has successfully retested the old all-time high of $69,000, breaking out of the weekly range, which was required to confirm further bullish momentum.

In a subsequent post, the analyst wrote, “Bitcoin Daily Closed above the ~$69,000 level yesterday. And today, Bitcoin is enjoying good upside.”

According to Matteo Greco, a research analyst at digital asset firm Fineqia, Bitcoin's recent price rally is primarily due to inflows from spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds and anticipation of the upcoming Bitcoin halving.

Greco expects a sustained Bitcoin rally following the halving, which could last well into the second quarter of 2025.

“Historically, BTC halving events have marked significant points followed by 9–18 months of uptrend, culminating in cycle peaks. [...] If historical patterns repeat, we may witness an uptrend for the remaining nine months of 2024, leading to a cycle peak expected between Q4 2024 and Q2 2025,” he told Cointelegraph.

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