Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) surged past $24K in Wednesday afternoon trading to reach a two-week high, helped by a combination of short liquidations and broader risk-on sentiment. The token drove up 9.1% to $24.20K as of 5:08 p.m. ET, partly contributing to the global crypto market cap's 6.4% climb to $1.10T, according to CoinMarketCap data . Virtually all major cryptos caught a bid during the session despite looming regulatory pressures and stronger-than-expected economic data. Traders liquidated $61.2M of short-bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) positions over the last 24 hours, pushing up the coin's price, according to data from Coinglass. That's the highest level in which traders have covered their bearish BTC bets since Jan. 24. In addition to the short squeeze, the stock market ended the session in the green after trading mixed for much of the day on lingering Fed jitters. Crypto-exposed stocks, though, were changing hands in a sea of green throughout the entire session. Whitney Setiawan, research analyst at crypto exchange Bitrue, contended that bitcoin's ( BTC-USD ) 45% year-to-date ascent "could signal that we will have a bull run in the near future," she told Seeking Alpha in an emailed statement. Still, "we must keep in mind that the macro foundation for the markets is not as strong, and a change in Fed tone could potentially disrupt the formation of a sustainable bull run. For this reason, it would be safer to bet on a bear market rally rather than a full-fledged bull market." See why Seeking Alpha contributor Kevin George thinks bitcoin is a Sell .
