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US President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential election caused a significant dip and subsequent correction in the crypto market, leading to massive liquidations. Nearly $67 million in leveraged long positions were liquidated within 30 minutes following Biden’s announcement.
Between 5:30 pm and 6:00 pm UTC on July 21, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) dropped sharply by 2.3%, falling from $67,283 to $65,880, according to cryptocurrency markets platform CoinGlass. This sudden drop triggered the large liquidations. However, Bitcoin quickly rebounded, reaching a 24-hour high of $68,480, causing traders with leveraged short positions to lose a combined $34 million.
“Biden was not credible to beat Trump, so an alternative candidate could have limited Trump’s chances,” said Markus Thielen, founder of cryptocurrency firm 10x Research. “But there is no credible alternative… hence BTC pump.” Thielen added that a “huge” buy order around that time contributed to the sharp recovery.
Over a 12-hour period from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm on July 21, more than $81.1 million in long positions and $53.4 million in short positions were liquidated. This included $43.8 million in Bitcoin, $31.1 million in Ether (ETH), and $8.6 million in Solana (SOL). The total liquidations of $134.5 million marked the highest 12-hour period since July 8. The majority of these liquidations occurred on Binance and OKX, with values of $64.5 million and $44 million, respectively.
US Vice President Kamala Harris is now seen as the likely replacement for Biden as the Democratic Party nominee for president.
At the time of publication, Bitcoin is trading at $67,850, up 0.55% over the last 24 hours.