Key Points
- Bitcoin (BTC) spiked to near $68,000 due to increased demand for spot BTC exchange-traded funds.
- The increase in Bitcoin prices led to crypto liquidations exceeding $300 million in the last 24 hours.
Bitcoin’s price almost touched $68,000 on October 15. This surge was driven by a high demand for spot BTC exchange-traded funds, which saw the highest single-day capital inflows in over four months.
The cryptocurrency reached a two-month high, crossing the $67,000 mark. This was the highest price since the end of July. The price of Bitcoin reached $67,800 before falling back to below $66,000.
Crypto Liquidations and Market Factors
The sudden increase in price led to crypto liquidations surpassing $300 million within 24 hours. According to data from Coinglass, most of these were short-Bitcoin positions or traders who had anticipated lower market prices. Earlier short liquidations of over $145 million hinted at a potential market spike.
An uptick in the U.S. stock market might have also influenced the increased interest in Bitcoin, which is often viewed as a risk asset. Higher share prices and lower Federal Reserve funding rates often lead to increased market liquidity.
Spot Bitcoin ETF Demand
The bullish movement also led to a surge in demand for spot Bitcoin ETFs. These funds in the United States saw the largest capital inflow in four months, pulling in $555.8 million for the first time since June 4.
Despite a shaky start to October, Bitcoin typically performs well in the last quarter of the year. The asset, valued at $1.2 trillion, has seen an average return of over 22% in the last three months across eight different years.
Bitcoin also saw a price increase during the two previous pre-election cycles, in 2016 and 2020. The cryptocurrency doubled and tripled in value, usually beginning its climb weeks before the U.S. presidential election and reaching a new all-time high in early Q1 of the following year.
Experts from QCP Capital speculated that this pattern might repeat, especially with a candidate who has expressed support for Bitcoin seemingly leading the race. Former President Donald Trump had a significant lead over Kamala Harris on Polymarket’s on-chain prediction platform, with a difference of over 13.5%. Similar data showed a 10% difference on platforms like Kalshi.