Bitcoin Jumps to Just Shy of $68K Before Quick Plunge Lower

Digital assets are finally beginning to pay attention to not just the growing chance of a Trump victory in November, but also a GOP sweep, said Standard Chartered’s Geoff Kendrick.

The price of bitcoin (BTC) put in an “upside down V” during the U.S. morning hours on Tuesday, surging to a nearly three month high of $67,800 before tumbling back to the $65,000 level.

At press time, the world’s largest crypto was trading at $65,500, down 0.6% over the past 24 hours and 3.3% lower than its session high touched only an hour ago. The broader CoinDesk 20 Index was lower by 1.3% over the last 24 hours, with solana (SOL) and cardano (ADA) among the index constituents underperforming BTC.

Liquidations

Bitcoin’s rise over the past few weeks has been very gradual, but the quickness of this morning’s gains then losses led to over $127 million in both short and long leveraged bets to be liquidated over the past four hours. Liquidation happens when a trader has insufficient funds to keep a leveraged trade open, leading to the forced closure of bullish long and bearish short positions – causing a brief spike or plunge in prices.

Traders at QCP Capital attributed the spike to several reasons from earlier this week. The firm said in a Telegram broadcast that the rally may be election-driven, initially sparked by Republican Donald Trump’s lead in prediction markets and polls, and further boosted by Democrat Kamala Harris’s pledge for a crypto regulatory framework signals a friendlier stance toward the industry.

“Disappointment with China’s latest stimulus may have led some speculators to shift capital from Chinese equities back into Bitcoin—a scenario we first anticipated in our October 8,” QCP added. Finance Minister Lan Fo’an promised new steps to support the property sector and hinted at greater government borrowing at a Saturday briefing. However, the announcement fell short of expectations and suggested a low probability of continued outflows into China-linked assets.

Read more: Bitcoin ETF Daily Inflow Hits $556M as BTC Appears Primed for Breakout