Solana, Dogecoin and Others Lead Gains as Short Liquidations Top $260M

A weekend surge in crypto has partially erased last week’s losses as traders look to regain a bullish foothold in the market.

Solana, Dogecoin, Cardano, Ethereum, and XRP have led gains among the ten largest cryptocurrencies by market value, rising between 3% and 4% on the day, according to CoinGecko.

Nearly $260 million worth of short positions have been wiped out, bringing the 24-hour total for all liquidations to $345 million, according to CoinGlass figures.

Shivam Thakral, CEO of BuyUcoin, told Decrypt the uptick in Bitcoin has triggered a short-covering move, which in turn has amplified prices for altcoins. 

Short covering occurs when sellers are forced to buy their positions to offset losses as the price moves against them. 

Due to a correlation between Bitcoin and altcoins, Thakral expects prices to consolidate until traders begin rotating capital into altcoins sometime this week.

Looking to the fourth quarter, Thakral expects narrative-driven altcoin sectors, such as Layer 2, AI, and staking derivatives, to attract a bid. 

While a handful of altcoins may experience “outsized returns,” others that lack “story, roadmap, and adoption” are likely to stagnate, he added.

Experts who previously spoke to Decrypt have shared a similar bullish outlook for Bitcoin and the broader crypto market, despite last week’s downtrend and institutional outflow.

The Fear and Greed Index, meanwhile, has bounced from fear territory last Friday to neutral as of Monday, according to CoinGlass data, reflecting the broader bullish sentiment following the weekend rally.

The overall crypto market capitalization hovers around $2.23 trillion, up 2.35% in the last 24 hours.