Ethereum rallies to 20-month high as Bitcoin ETF approval spurs altcoin gains Ethereum rallies to 20-month high as Bitcoin ETF approval spurs altcoin gains
Bitcoin posted a modest gain of only 1.35% during the reporting period.
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Updated: Jan. 11, 2024 at 11:59 am UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
Several large-cap cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, and others, rallied following the approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the U.S.
BTC’s price mostly traded flat following the news, posting a modest 1.35% gain to trade at $46,258 as of press time. This price performance is surprising considering the hype and enthusiasm the applications generated over the past several months.
Several analysts had predicted that the ETF approval could be a “sell-the-news” development. K33 research senior analyst Vetle Lunde claimed that BTC’s price performance following the SEC fake ETF approval rumors of Jan. 9 showed that the “ETF approval rehearsal favors a sell-the-news reaction.”
However, crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe chimed that BTC’s price might improve “with the deal-flow on the ETF approval.” He added that this might be the cycle BTC’s price going above $300,000.
Meanwhile, data from CryptoSlate show that the other top 10 digital assets by market capitalization, barring stablecoins, recorded gains of more than 4% during the past day. Notably, ETH jumped 10% to more than $2600, its highest value since May 2022.
Similarly, the high-flying SOL token is up 4% to reclaim the $100 level, while ADA, BNB, Avalanche, XRP, and Dogecoin gained 14%, 5%, 13%, 6%, and 7%, respectively.
Additionally, the overall crypto market rose 4% to $1.77 trillion.
Over $270 million liquidation trails ETF approval
The price performance of these digital assets resulted in the liquidation of approximately $272 million from more than 85,000 traders.
Coinglass data shows that Bitcoin traders lost nearly $85 million during the reporting period, with most of the losses borne by traders betting on a bullish price movement for the top cryptocurrency.
Conversely, Ethereum’s price surge resulted in significant losses for short traders betting against an upward price movement. This cohort of traders lost $54 million, while long traders incurred approximately $30 million in losses.
Notably, the single most substantial liquidation was a $3.81 million short position against Ethereum on Binance.
Other prominent assets such as Solana, XRP, and BNB also saw liquidations amounting to $12.53 million, $3.81 million, and $793,000, respectively.
Meanwhile, traders on Binance and OKX accounted for more than $190 million of the total losses during the reporting period.
Bitcoin Market Data
At the time of press 11:59 am UTC on Jan. 11, 2024, Bitcoin is ranked #1 by market cap and the price is up 3.78% over the past 24 hours. Bitcoin has a market capitalization of $922.36 billion with a 24-hour trading volume of $52.49 billion. Learn more about Bitcoin ›
Crypto Market Summary
At the time of press 11:59 am UTC on Jan. 11, 2024, the total crypto market is valued at at $1.8 trillion with a 24-hour volume of $122.68 billion. Bitcoin dominance is currently at 51.20%. Learn more about the crypto market ›
Mentioned in this article
Author 
Oluwapelumi Adejumo
Oluwapelumi values Bitcoin's potential. He imparts insights on a range of topics like DeFi, hacks, mining and culture, underlining transformative power.
Editor Editor 
Liam 'Akiba' Wright
Also known as "Akiba," Liam is a reporter, editor and podcast producer at CryptoSlate. He believes that decentralized technology has the potential to make widespread positive change.
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Bitcoin, a decentralized currency that defies the sway of central banks or administrators, transacts electronically, circumventing intermediaries via a peer-to-peer network.
Ethereum
$3,114.94
Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain platform that enables the creation of smart contracts and decentralized applications (DApps).
Solana
$142.089
Solana is a high-performance blockchain platform that utilizes a unique consensus algorithm called “Proof of History” to achieve fast transaction speeds and low fees.
Cardano
$0.46474
Cardano is a decentralized public blockchain and cryptocurrency project and is fully open source.
Avalanche
$34.9306
Avalanche is an umbrella platform for launching decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, financial assets, trading and other services.
XRP
$0.52163
The XRP Ledger is a decentralized cryptographic ledger powered by a network of peer-to-peer servers.
Binance
Binance is a global cryptocurrency exchange that provides a platform for trading more than 100 cryptocurrencies.
OKX
OKX is a world-leading digital asset exchange, providing advanced financial services to global traders by using blockchain technology.