Bitcoin delivered a volatile two-stage breakout on Aug. 19, first touching $65,000 before later surging to a two-month high above $69,000. The move ended weeks of sideways trading and triggered more than $1.2 billion in liquidations across the crypto market within a single hour.
Earlier in the day, BTC had climbed from about $62,600 to $64,500, briefly tapped $65,000, and then slipped back toward $64,100. By the afternoon, momentum returned and drove the leading cryptocurrency to its highest price since mid-June, just over $69,000.
Data from CoinGlass showed that short positions bore nearly the entire brunt of the forced closing, accounting for $1.14 billion of the total liquidated. Bitcoin futures liquidations reached roughly $680 million, while Ethereum contracts saw about $425 million wiped out.
Ethereum rallied past $2,000 and touched $2,100 for the first time in months. XRP also rebounded above the psychologically important $1 level after briefly losing it last week.
The viral altcoin Bitway (BTW) continued to outperform, jumping another 85% in 24 hours to a new all-time high of $0.067. Over the past month, BTW has soared more than 900%, according to CoinGecko. Other movers included PUMP, CAKE, LINK, and DOT, which rose between 4% and 7%, while HYPE and CC traded lower by about 2%.
The total cryptocurrency market capitalization increased by around $20 billion on the day to $2.280 trillion, while Bitcoin dominance slipped below 57% as altcoins gained ground.
