Biden's Withdrawal from Elections Triggers $67M Crypto Liquidation in Half an Hour

The cryptocurrency market experienced significant change, with nearly $67 million in leveraged long positions liquidated in just 30 minutes following President Joe Biden's announcement that he would not be running in the 2024 election.

This wave of liquidations occurred between 5:30 PM and 6 PM UTC on July 21, triggered by a sudden 2.3% drop in Bitcoin's value, which fell to $65,880.

Despite the sharp decline, Bitcoin swiftly recovered, climbing to a 24-hour high of $68,480. This rebound caused traders with leveraged short positions to incur losses totaling $34 million.

Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research, highlighted that the uncertainty surrounding Biden's withdrawal and the lack of a strong alternative candidate to challenge Donald Trump contributed to Bitcoin's rapid recovery. Additionally, a large buy order helped propel the market upwards.

In a broader 12-hour timeframe from 10 AM to 10 PM UTC on July 21, the market saw liquidations exceeding $81.1 million in long positions and $53.4 million in short positions. This included $43.8 million in Bitcoin and $31.1 million in Ether, with Solana experiencing $8.6 million in liquidations.

The total value of these liquidations reached $134.5 million, marking the highest in a 12-hour period since July 8. The majority of these liquidations occurred on Binance and OKX, amounting to $64.5 million and $44 million, respectively.

With Biden's withdrawal, Vice President Kamala Harris is considered the likely Democratic candidate. Nonetheless, according to the decentralized predictions platform Polymarket, Donald Trump has a 64% chance of winning the 2024 election, with Harris following at 31%.

It is worth noting that President Joe Biden announced on Sunday that he will not seek re-election, marking the end of his extensive political career just months before the upcoming election.

At 81, Biden faced increasing doubts within his party about his ability to effectively serve another term and his chances of defeating Donald Trump in November. Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate to succeed him.