Shares of Blackrock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) are on track to hit an all-time high of nearly $63 in pre-market trade on Thursday after Bitcoin (BTC) surged to a record high of over $111,700 overnight.
The apex cryptocurrency has since pared its gains, trading at $110,800 in pre-market U.S. hours on Bitcoin Pizza Day, commemorating when a Bitcoin user bought two pizzas for 10,000 BTC in 2010.
The sharp price swings triggered over $500 million in liquidations across the crypto market in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGlass. Of the total, $222 million came from Bitcoin trades alone.
Most of the losses came from short positions or bets that Bitcoin would drop, which were hit hard by the rally.
In Bitcoin, $176 million in shorts were liquidated, compared to $46 million in longs. Across the broader crypto market, short liquidations totaled $333 million, while $180 million came from longs.
The rally is unfolding against a backdrop of higher yields on U.S. government bonds. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose to 4.6%, while the 30-year topped 5%, driven by concerns over President Donald Trump’s tax bill that analysts estimate could add as much as $5 trillion to the country’s debt, according to a Reuters report.
IBIT, BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF, rose 1.9% in pre-market trade. Among crypto-linked stocks, Bitcoin miners led the surge, with Cleanspark (CLSK) and Bitfarms (BITF) climbing 4.6%, followed by Mara Holdings (MARA), which jumped 4%.
Meanwhile, shares of TeraWulf (WULF) and Riot Platforms (RIOT) rose as much as 3.5% each.
Michael Saylor-backed Strategy (MSTR), often seen as a proxy for Bitcoin, rose a modest 1.4%.
Bitcoin’s price has climbed 58.3% over the past year. In comparison, Strategy’s stock has gained 132%, and IBIT’s stock has gained 53%.
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