$300M in crypto liquidations accompanies Bitcoin's surge to $44K

Bitcoin (BTC) hit $44,000 overnight on Mar. 1 as a rally that began Monday sparked unexpected results. 

Traders warns of "massive variables" for BTC price

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD reaching $44,250 on Bitstamp before consolidating, still above $43,000 at the time of writing.

The move had come in two main bursts, beginning just prior to the Wall Street open.

Against a highly uncertain macro backdrop, analysts had been hard-pressed to forecast what Bitcoin price action would do next, a mood that continued as local highs appeared.

Yesterdays #BTC trade we took with the group. Didn't expect it to run that hard tbh. Would have raised TP probably because I think it can do 1 more leg up before some correction. Red box was for the entire move, now 1 more (smaller) leg to go imo. Nice, quick profit pic.twitter.com/1suDz8pk7p

— Crypto_Ed_NL *not asking to send DM's* (@Crypto_Ed_NL) March 1, 2022

Looking ahead to the month of March, popular trader and analyst Pentoshi noted that even more triggers were about to be added to the macro mix.

"Want to state, March is a month of massive variables," he told Twitter followers on the day.

"So I think day to day approach is best. There is a lot going on in the world right now. It's anyones guess. I'm leaning towards yearly open still, but after that it's wait and see."

He nonetheless admitted that he "did not see coming" the extent of Bitcoin's rapid gains, despite adopting a more bullish posture in February.

Aside from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, the U.S. Federal Reserve is due to make a decision on key interest rate hikes this month. U.S. consumer price index (CPI) data is due March 10.

Bears meanwhile took a hit from the latest events, with cross-crypto liquidations totalling $305 million in 24 hours, data from monitoring resource Coinglass showed.

LUNA shines as altcoins rebound

Bitcoin thus outperformed most of the top ten cryptocurrencies by market cap, with 24-hour returns hitting 15%.

Related: War puts BTC price to the test — 5 things to watch in Bitcoin this week

Ether (ETH) managed to add around $370 to reach local highs of $2,970, still unable to crack major resistance higher up.

The crown was once again taken by Terra (LUNA), however, which added over 20% to nearly double in just seven days.