Invest ideasNews
23 Apr 2026, 07:00
Bitcoin Rally Catches Shorts Offside—$200M Liquidated As Price Hits $79,000
Data shows a large amount of Bitcoin short positions have been liquidated following the cryptocurrency’s surge to the $79,000 level. Bitcoin Has Surpassed $79,000 For The First Time Since Early February Bitcoin has seen a continuation of its recent bullish momentum during the past day as its price has hit the $79,300 level after a jump of nearly 5%. The below chart shows how the recent trajectory of the cryptocurrency has looked. Bitcoin also made an attempt at recovery last week, but that push ended up fizzling out as the asset approached the $78,000 level. This new surge has taken the cryptocurrency beyond this mark, to levels not seen since the first few days of February. Related Reading: Ethereum Sees First SuperTrend Bullish Flip In Over A Year Since the rally has been sharp, it has unleashed a wave of chaos over on the derivatives side of the sector. A Large Amount Of BTC Liquidations Have Piled Up On Exchanges According to data from CoinGlass, Bitcoin has seen a notable amount of liquidations following the volatility of the last 24 hours. “Liquidation” here refers to the forceful closure that any open contract undergoes after it has amassed losses of a certain degree. Below is a heatmap that shows how daily liquidations have compared between the various assets in the sector. It would appear that Bitcoin has been the number one contributor of liquidations in the market like usual, with more than $222 million in positions related to the asset getting flushed during the past day. About $205 million of these positions were short ones, meaning that bearish bets made up for an extreme majority of the liquidations. Shorts being the most heavily affected side is naturally down to the fact that the cryptocurrency has seen a sharp surge inside this window. Ethereum, which has seen the second-largest derivatives flush, also saw the shorts make up for $99 million of its $115 million in total liquidations. In total, the digital asset sector as a whole has witnessed nearly $449 million in liquidations over the last 24 hours. From the table, it’s apparent that $365 million or over 80% of these liquidations involved short positions, reinforcing the bullish wave that the sector as a whole has seen in this period. A mass liquidation event like today’s is popularly known as a squeeze. Since the latest event has involved mostly shorts, it would be called a short squeeze. Generally, these events kickstart after a sharp swing in the price unleashes an initial wave of liquidations. This flush then feeds back into the move, which causes even more liquidations in the market. Related Reading: Bitcoin Fear Fading? Sentiment Hits Highest Since Mid-January In the cryptocurrency sector, these events aren’t exactly a rare sight due to the volatility that coins tend to see on the regular and leverage use being widespread among derivatives traders. Featured image from Dall-E, chart from TradingView.com
23 Apr 2026, 06:59
Crypto for Safe Passage Through the Strait of Hormuz: The New Scam
Greek maritime risk management firm MARISKS has warned shipping companies about fraudulent messages targeting vessels stranded west of the Strait of Hormuz. In fact, scammers are demanding cryptocurrency payments for “safe passage.” Strait of Hormuz Crisis Unknown actors posing as Iranian authorities have contacted shipowners, requesting transit fees in Bitcoin (BTC) or Tether (USDT) in exchange for clearance. MARISKS said the messages are fake and not from Iranian authorities, and called them a scam. The message cited by MARISKS read , “After providing the documents and assessing your eligibility by the Iranian Security Services, we will be able to determine the fee to be paid in cryptocurrency (BTC or USDT). Only then will your vessel be able to transit the strait unimpeded at the pre-agreed time” Tensions around the Strait continue to disrupt maritime traffic. The United States has maintained restrictions on Iranian ports, while Iran has intermittently closed and reopened the Strait of Hormuz in recent weeks amid rising regional tensions and shifting enforcement measures, a major maritime choke point for world energy trade. Maritime activity in the area has been severely affected. Hundreds of ships, along with around 20,000 seafarers, remain stuck because of security risks, unclear transit rules, and fears of confrontation in the waterway. On April 18, Iranian authorities briefly allowed some ships to pass after inspections, but the situation remained tense. Several vessels that attempted to move through the strait reported hostile encounters. At least two ships, including a tanker, said they were fired upon by Iranian boats and had to turn back. MARISKS also said that one vessel linked to a recent incident may have been approached through scam messages demanding cryptocurrency payments in exchange for clearance before transit approval. Crypto Payments and Sanctions Avoidance Earlier this month, reports stated that Iran’s IRGC has been charging ships fees to pass safely through the Strait of Hormuz. Shipping companies reportedly cannot transit freely and must first coordinate with an IRGC-linked intermediary. They are asked to provide detailed vessel information such as ownership, flag, cargo, destination, and crew list. After submitting these details, operators negotiate a transit fee, which reportedly starts at around $1 per barrel of oil and is paid in yuan or stablecoins. In exchange, ships receive a permit code and escorted passage through the strait. Later, the Financial Times also reported comments from Hamid Hosseini, a spokesperson for Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union, who said tankers must email Iranian authorities with cargo details. Iran would then set a transit toll to be paid in digital currencies, including Bitcoin. He added that payment would need to be made within seconds to avoid sanctions-related risks. The post Crypto for Safe Passage Through the Strait of Hormuz: The New Scam appeared first on CryptoPotato .
23 Apr 2026, 06:30
Robinhood Fund Invests $75 Million in OpenAI
Robinhood’s investment fund has taken a $75 million stake in OpenAI, deepening its push to give retail investors access to private markets. The move highlights growing demand for exposure to leading artificial intelligence (AI) firms. Key Takeaways: Robinhood invested $75 million in OpenAI, expanding retail access to private AI firms. RVI targets $10 trillion private
23 Apr 2026, 06:26
Bitcoin's bull score index just left bear territory. There's a warning attached.
The index has returned to neutral territory, a rare milestone that has historically marked market turning points, but not always correctly.
23 Apr 2026, 06:00
Ethereum Faces ‘Moment Of Truth’ As Price Eyes $2,450 Resistance – Breakout Loading?
Some crypto analysts have affirmed that Ethereum (ETH) is facing a pivotal moment as it retests a major resistance barrier that could make or break the King of Altcoin’s recovery dreams. Related Reading: Dogecoin ‘Launchpad’ Ready? Analysts Forecast Big DOGE Price Move Amid Volume Spike Ethereum $2,400 Retest: Breakout or Fakeout? On Wednesday, Ethereum jumped 3.6% to retest a crucial resistance area for the third time this month, as the cryptocurrency attempts to recover from recent market jitters fueled by the US-Iran conflict. The cryptocurrency has been hovering between $1,800-$2,450 since the early February market crash, attempting to break out of this range on multiple occasions but ultimately failing. Amid the recent market recovery, ETH has surged 15% from April’s lows and sustained the upper half of its local range for the first time in three months. Now, it is trying to reclaim the crucial $2,400-$2,500 resistance area before potentially climbing to higher levels. Multiple crypto market observers noted that Ethereum has been pushing toward a breakout over the past week, reaching a three-month high of $2,464 last Friday and testing the $2,425 level today. Analyst Crypto Rand emphasized the importance of reclaiming this region for ETH’s price, affirming that consolidation above this area would “trigger a major bullish reversal” for the cryptocurrency. Similarly, Daan Crypto Trades pointed out that after today’s performance, the King of Altcoins is near its bull market band and the weekly 200 Moving Average (MA), currently at $2,450. This level was lost as support in mid-January, and a weekly close above it could open the door to a retest of the weekly 200 Exponential Moving Average (EMA), located around the $2,560 mark. On the contrary, analyst Ted Pillows shared a bearish perspective, affirming that although the price is surging, Ethereum’s spot demand “is stagnant,” which signals that the recent rally is not supported by steady spot accumulation. “Ethereum could have a liquidity grab above the $2,400-$2,450 level similar to Jan 2026,” he explained, when the price retested the $3,400 area before crashing. Traders Eye $2,900 And Beyond Despite the concerns of another correction, analyst Ali Martinez recently noted that ETH’s SuperTrend, used to identify the current market trend, flipped bullish for the first time in over a year. Per the post, the SuperTrend showed a Buy signal for the first time since the first half of 2025, suggesting the end of the current downtrend. The analyst also affirmed that if the cryptocurrency clears the $2,385 level, it could open the path to the $2,900 area. This level marks the X-axis of ETH’s three-month ascending triangle, and turning it into support would neutralize recent sell signals and confirm a major trend continuation. “With the overhead supply cleared, the technical objective for this formation is now $2,900. As long as we hold above the breakout zone, the momentum remains firmly with the bulls,” he wrote. Related Reading: Crypto Community Slams LayerZero: More Verifiers Won’t Stop The Next $290M Hack Meanwhile, Trader Tardigrade shared a macro perspective on Ethereum based on a two-year ascending channel. According to the post, the cryptocurrency retested and confirmed the channel’s lower boundary as support in the weekly timeframe during the recent market correction, pushing back into the channel over the past four weeks. “If this level holds, $6,000 is the mid-2026 target based on the channel structure,” he suggested, concluding that “Bullish momentum building.” Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
23 Apr 2026, 05:50
Bitcoin Price Prediction: Structural Strength Could Push BTC to $85K Soon
Bitcoin is trading around $78k, surging higher consistently as a combination of improving technical structure and renewed geopolitical optimism drives fresh buying. The extension of the US-Iran ceasefire has provided a meaningful risk-on catalyst, removing a key source of macro uncertainty that had been weighing on markets for weeks and giving buyers the fundamental backdrop they needed to push through key resistance levels. Bitcoin Price Analysis: The Daily Chart The daily chart is telling a different story than it was even a week ago. BTC has finally broken above the descending channel, cleared the 100-day MA around $75k, and is now pushing through the $75k–$80k resistance band, with the RSI also on the rise but not overbought yet. Crucially, what makes this move stand apart from previous attempts is that price is not just tagging resistance and fading. The price is grinding through the supply zone with successive higher closes. The next major test sits at the $85k–$90k zone, where the declining 200-day MA and a significant supply cluster converge. A weekly close above the $80k psychological level would be a structural development of real importance, as it confirms that the correction’s dominant trend has broken down. On the downside, the former channel boundary and 100-day MA near $75k are now the first support levels to defend on any pullback. Source: TradingView BTC/USDT 4-Hour Chart The ascending channel from the February lows is not producing a clean breakout to the upside. BTC is pushing through the upper boundary near $78k. Unlike the mid-March attempt and last week’s failed breakout, this move has shown genuine follow-through and momentum, which the RSI confirms by trending higher. The $74k–$76k zone, which includes the former upper channel boundary and a key horizontal level, is now the most important area to hold during any retracement on the 4-hour chart. A successful retest of that zone followed by a rebound would be a textbook continuation setup and would add further conviction to the case that the $80k level, and potentially the $82k-$84k bearish order block, are the next meaningful targets in the coming weeks. Source: TradingView Sentiment Analysis The Miners’ Position Index (MPI) is currently sitting below zero on the 7-day EMA. It has rebounded from the green zone that has historically marked periods of miner accumulation rather than distribution. Throughout the 2025 bull run, the MPI repeatedly spiked well above zero as miners sold aggressively into price strength. This behavior consistently preceded local tops. The current reading is the opposite, as miners are not rushing to sell into this rally. The contrast with prior cycle behavior is meaningful. When the price was trading between $110k and $125k, the MPI was consistently elevated. Miners were offloading supply into demand. At $78k, with the index near its most conservative reading in over a year, miners appear to be holding their coins rather than taking profits. This reduces one of the most consistent sources of sell-side pressure in the Bitcoin market, and in a context where exchange reserves are also at multi-year lows, the supply picture heading into a potential push toward $80k looks considerably cleaner than it did at equivalent price levels during the previous rally. Source: CryptoQuant The post Bitcoin Price Prediction: Structural Strength Could Push BTC to $85K Soon appeared first on CryptoPotato .
