{"id":95282,"date":"2026-03-17T10:35:50","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T07:35:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=95282"},"modified":"2026-03-18T10:57:01","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T07:57:01","slug":"bitcoin-touches-75000-for-the-first-time-since-early-february","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/bitcoin-touches-75000-for-the-first-time-since-early-february\/","title":{"rendered":"Bitcoin touches $75,000 for the first time since early February"},"content":{"rendered":"

On March 17 the price of the leading cryptocurrency rose to $75,900, levels last seen only in early February.<\/p>\n

At the time of writing, the digital gold trades around $74,200 (+0.9% over 24 hours).<\/p>\n

\"image\"
Hourly BTC\/USDT chart on Binance. Source: TradingView<\/a>. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the same time, Ethereum jumped to $2,300. The altcoin gained 2.4% over the past day and 13.5% over the week. The asset outpaced<\/a> bitcoin in terms of gains amid the return of institutions.<\/p>\n

\"image\"
Hourly ETH\/USDT chart on Binance. Source: TradingView<\/a>. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Over the past 24 hours, crypto-market liquidations totalled $498m. Most \u2014 $329m \u2014 were short positions. Bitcoin traders suffered the largest losses.<\/p>\n

\"image\"
Source: CoinGlass<\/a>. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A popular gauge of market sentiment rose to 28, breaking out of the \u201cextreme fear\u201d zone. It is the highest reading since late January. Even so, uncertainty still reigns among investors.<\/p>\n

\"image\"
Source: Alternative.me<\/a>. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Why are cryptocurrencies rising?<\/h2>\n

Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research, says<\/a> the rally is largely explained by the closing of short positions that traders opened during February\u2019s drop.<\/p>\n

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\u201cTraders are massively closing put options with $55,000 and $60,000 strikes. They realised that by expiry these contracts are unlikely to end up in the money, and began to exit positions. It was the removal of these protective hedges that pushed the price up,\u201d he noted. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Rick Maeda of Presto Research pointed<\/a> to the return of institutional demand. Over the past week, spot bitcoin ETF<\/a> drew $767.3m. Ethereum funds took in $160.8m.<\/p>\n

Purchases by Strategy also buoyed prices. Last week the company bought<\/a> 22,337 BTC for $1.57bn. The deal ranked among the firm\u2019s five largest.<\/p>\n

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\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f According to social data, the top trending coins driving markets across social media are:<\/p>\n

\ud83e\ude99 Bitcoin $BTC<\/a>: Large, institutional-scale BTC accumulation by MicroStrategy: the company bought 22,337 BTC (~$1.57B) during March 9\u201315, 2026 using primarily its STRC preferred\u2011share\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/9VUUNGEejP<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Santiment (@santimentfeed) March 16, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n