JUST IN: Bitcoin price breaks $20,000, bears hit by pain of $45.5 million liquidations

• Bitcoin price pushed past the $20,000 level as traditional markets continued their steep decline.
• Amidst fear of a global recession and a negative impact on equities, BTC bears faced $45.5 million liquidation in 24 hours. 
• Analysts have predicted an incoming short squeeze in Bitcoin, and set a bullish target of $25,000. 

Top analysts have revealed a bullish outlook on Bitcoin as the asset breaks past the $20,000 level. BTC has outperformed traditional markets and yielded 8% gains overnight. 

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$44 million in Bitcoin shorts liquidated in last 24 hours

Michaël van de Poppe, crypto strategist and trader identified the key reason behind the abrupt rally of Bitcoin, Ethereum and Cardano. Poppe argues that record-setting volume of short positions in traditional markets is a bullish signal for cryptocurrencies. 

Jason Goepfert, a leading financial researcher noted that retail traders have spent $18 billion on put options and accumulated a whopping $46 billion worth of short positions on index futures. Both these numbers are record setting. 

Poppe believes that a record-setting amount of short positions in the traditional markets is a bullish signal. 

Retail trader buy-to-open put premiums

Poppe told his 628,000 Twitter followers that a “short squeeze [is] incoming.” Poppe expects Bitcoin to follow suit when traditional assets witness a short squeeze, which occurs when an unusual condition triggers a rapid rise in an asset’s price. 

An example is when many investors short an asset or a tradable security and the price shoots up despite the massive bet against it, as is happening with the short squeeze in BTC price. 

Poppe believes $18,500 is a crucial barrier that Bitcoin price needs to hold. Interestingly, based on data from Coinglass, $45.58 million in Bitcoin shorts were liquidated in the last 24 hours. 

Bitcoin total liquidations 

Analysts set $25,000 target for Bitcoin price

As Bitcoin continues to outperform traditional assets and preserves its uptrend, analysts have revealed a bullish outlook on the asset. The $19,000 level was considered a key psychological level for Bitcoin, the asset needs to sustain above this mark to yield consistent profits for holders. 

Analysts have identified the $20,500 level as the next major resistance for Bitcoin price. Crypto Faibik, a pseudonymous crypto analyst and trader has set a $25,000 target for Bitcoin price. 

BTC/USDT Perpetual Futures

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