Bitcoin price surge sees significant asset outflow on crypto exchanges

The price surge also led to short position liquidations reaching $400 million.
The price surge also led to short position liquidations reaching $400 million.

Major crypto exchanges recorded a net outflow on Oct. 24 as the price of Bitcoin (BTC) briefly touched the $35,000 mark for the first time in a year. The movement of funds away from exchanges is considered a bullish sign, as it indicates traders are moving their assets away from exchanges to secure storage, expecting prices to increase.

According to data shared by crypto analytic firm CoinGlass, Binance saw the biggest outflow, with over $500 million moving off the exchange over the past 24 hours, followed by crypto.com with $49.4 million in outflows, and OKX with $31 million. Most other exchanges recorded less than $20 million in outflows.

Outflows from crypto platforms recently have led to “bank run” fears after the FTX collapse in November 2022. However, the most recent outflows align more with trader sentiment than fear-induced withdrawals during the peak bear market. Glassnode data confirms that the Bitcoin outflows from exchanges over the past few days have risen in line with BTC’s price surge.

Bitcoin exchange outflows. Source: Glassnode

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The price surge also led to the liquidation of roughly $400 million worth of short positions. Over the last 24 hours, 94,755 traders saw derivative positions liquidated. The largest single liquidation order happened on Binance, worth $9.98 million.

On-chain analysts also pointed toward the market value to realized value (MVRV) ratio, a metric that compares the asset’s market value to its realized value. It is calculated by dividing a cryptocurrency’s market capitalization by its realized capitalization. The realized price is determined by the average price at which each coin or token was last moved on-chain. The MVRV ratio currently sits at 1.47. The last time there was a bull run, the MVRV ratio was 1.5.

The total crypto market cap has risen over 7.3% in the last 24 hours to $1.25 trillion, its highest valuation since April. The catalyst behind the surge is believed to be further speculation around the launch of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund.

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