Bitcoin (BTC) saw flash volatility on April 19 as geopolitical turmoil in the Middle East spilled into financial markets.
BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: TradingView BTC price whipsaws into halving
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed new seven-week BTC price lows of $59,630 hitting after the April 18 daily close.
These accompanied renewed tensions between Iran and Israel — a particularly sensitive topic for Bitcoin this month which fueled a major drawdown from $70,000.
As Cointelegraph reported, the day prior, a modest recovery had been underway, this swiftly undone as markets reacted to the latest developments.
Amid rumors that the situation might not escalate further, BTC/USD staged an equally impressive rebound from the lows, reaching local highs of $65,190.
Source: WhalePanda
In ongoing coverage on X (formerly Twitter), popular trader Skew noted that both long and short BTC positions were being burned by the volatility.
“Shorts blown out here & now seeing more interest from longs aka longs opening,” part of his most recent post read.
Skew added that spot demand was currently driving the rebound, which was only around an hour old at the time of writing. Bids filled during the trip below $60,000, he said, were “sizable.”
Bitcoin liquidations heatmap (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass
The latest data from monitoring resource CoinGlass meanwhile revealed the extent of shorters’ surprise.
Sell-side liquidity between $64,000 and $65,000 had been taken in an instant, with no significant blocks left near the spot price beyond a new wall of bids at $61,200.
“Doesn't look like much but thats $100M in $BTC bids just moved up below price to support the move up,” fellow trader Credible Crypto continued in part of his own X commentary.
“Good luck getting back in if you sold the bottom because of some news headline.”
Crypto liquidations (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass
Total cross-crypto short liquidations for the past 24 hours stood at $138 million.
Battle for Bitcoin weekly close is on
With so much attention focused on short-term price moves, Bitcoin’s imminent block subsidy halving received surprisingly little consideration.
Related: $70K BTC price by the halving? 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week
"Today is the eve of the BTC halving and the market appears to have formed a clearly defined baseline support level around the recent lows," trading firm QCP Capital wrote in part of its latest Asia Morning Color market update sent to Telegram channel subscribers.
With under 15 hours left until the seminal event, anticipation for a potential rally slowly returned to the radar.
“Operation ‘save the weekly’ started early this week,” trader Jelle summarized, referring to the upcoming weekly candle close.
BTC/USD 1-week chart. Source: TradingView
For Crypto Ed, creator of trading platform CryptoTA, downside targets had been hit, leaving the door open for a sustained recovery.
“Okay, let me call the bottom here!” he told X followers.
“IF (big IF) no more big news coming from Middle East, I believe the bottom is in and BTC starting its next leg up and do a nice relief/halving rally!”
BTC/USD chart. Source: Crypto Ed/X
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
